


Distance

by coffeecup_and_ink



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: (and my first fic ever), AU of an AU, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherly Bonding, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, In which i hurt my child, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), My First Work in This Fandom, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Swearing, Temporary Character Death, The Fuck Word Is Said A Lot, The Fuck Word is Said, Time has Big Grampa Energy in this one, Wild (Linked Universe)-centric, You know who it is, in which I look at the timeline and think "fuck it", is this too many tags???? too little???? please help, it does have a happy ending guys, it's not really really explicitly dissociation but better safe than sorry, no beta we die like men, so uh... this happened, some dissociation, the ever elusive Warriors and Four solidarity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:40:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23997664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeecup_and_ink/pseuds/coffeecup_and_ink
Summary: Time smiled. “That’s because your heart never forgets the feeling of family. Your brain might, but your heart always knows who you belong to.”Wild's family is an enigma, even to himself. Any dregs of memory is in flashes: love, pain, laughter, neglect. So why, when he looks at the brothers he had gained in the past months, does he find such a sense of belonging he has never felt before?Or, Time is worried, Twilight is less of an ancestor than he thought, Four and Warriors are nosy, Legend wants to be included, and Wild doesn't deserve anything I put him through.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Four & Warriors, Time & Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe), Time & Twilight (Linked Universe), Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe)
Comments: 128
Kudos: 885





	1. Chapter 1

It was a general consensus that no one liked Wild’s Hyrule. Not even Wild. Sure, it was attractive enough, with its wide, sloping plains and deep forests, but it all felt as if it were overshadowed by a great sense of melancholy. It seemed as if everywhere they looked there was a new ruin. A new village lost to the ages, a new life lost, a new family destroyed. It was as if the whole world was a graveyard, and they could all feel the sadness creeping between the cracks of the half-demolished buildings and abandoned carts lining the roads. Everyone could feel it, even Wild.

_Especially_ Wild.

He had grown steadily more tense the longer they stayed. By the fourth night in his Hyrule, spent in silence underneath the patchy roof of a half-demolished house ( _a dead man’s house_ , Warriors thought, _anyone who had ever lived or stayed in this house is dead_ ), Wild was sitting far from the group, eyes glancing over them all then resting back to his lap, cloak up and muscles taut, gripping on to his sheikah slate until his knuckles were white. As if waiting for the moment he would need to fight ( _or run_ ).

Legend, being Legend, was the first to ask the question they had all been wondering. “Hylia Wild, what _happened_ here?”

Wild’s head snapped up, seemingly unaware there were people around him. Sky nudged Legend disapprovingly. “You don’t need to answer that if it makes you uncomfortable. We understand,” Wild considered them all for a moment, then sighed. ‘ _No, it’s okay,_ ’ he signed (Wild would only sign if he felt uncomfortable, which hasn’t happened around the group since Wild had first joined. Warriors watched as Twilight reached out, as if to take Wild’s hand, only to pull away). _‘I guess I have to tell you sooner or later.’_

_‘The reason everything looks like this is the same reason I don’t remember any-‘_ He paused. _‘Much from before. 100 years ago, Calamity Ganon destroyed Hyrule. I tried to stop it, I really did, but I-… I wasn’t strong enough. I died protecting Zelda from Guardians—they’re those big metal things we saw earlier—and I was put into the Shrine of Resurrection to heal.’_ Wild shuddered, screwing his eyes shut for a moment, his face turning from stony to pained. Warriors tried to ignore the tremor in his hands as he signed. ‘ _I don’t know what happened in there, but I do know that I felt myself forget everything. People, places, moments, it was all…’_ His eyes clouded over, and Warriors was worried for a moment they had triggered another memory. ‘ _Gone. Just like that.’_

Warriors watched him. Of course, he knew _something_ happened to Wild before they all met. They all had their tragic pasts, but for most, that’s all they were: a moment in the past they had moved on from, for the most part. Wild seemed to still be living it.

Wind spoke up next. “Do you… Do you know if you had family before? You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to,” He said quickly.

Wild frowned, contemplating. ‘ _I think… I had a sister? I don’t really know,’_ he smiled apologetically. _‘Sorry, I can really only remember feelings. It’s as if, when someone says ‘sister’, I can feel in my heart that I thought of someone like that, I just can’t put the feeling to a face or name.’_

Time smiled. “That’s because your heart never forgets the feeling of family. Your brain might, but your heart always knows who you belong to.”

Four snickered. “You should take up poetry, old man. You’ll have the whole milk bar weeping with that kind of talk!” Time rolled his eyes good-naturedly, and out of the corner of his eye, Warriors saw Wild relax himself slightly, a ghost of a smile on his face.

The next morning was brighter than the last, literally and figuratively. As they woke up, they were not greeted by rain, as they had become accustomed to in this Hyrule, but rather clear, warm skies. Wild seemed even better, truly smiling for the first time since they landed in his Hyrule as he made breakfast. He hummed softly, pouring Goddess-knows-what into the bowl (Warriors had leant not to ask, lest he be forced to listen to a three-hour ramble about the best types of frogs to cook with to gain a speed boost. _Never again_ ). However, them being nine of the most obnoxious heroes in Hyrulean history, the quiet couldn’t last long.

It was broken by their youngest. “Isn’t it weird how long we’ve been here? I mean, it’s been _days_. Usually we shift pretty quickly, don’t we? Maybe Hylia wants us to do something here.”

Warriors nodded at Wind. “He’s right. I can’t remember the last time we’ve been in the same place for this long.”

  
“Maybe we’re stuck.”

“Why would we be stuck? We still haven’t figured out where the infected monsters are coming from. Do you really think Hylia would just say ‘oh well, they can’t figure it out, better let them go off and do whatever’?”

“Shut up Legend, it was only a suggestion!”

“Boys!” Time said, using his Commanding Voice. “Wind’s right. Hylia wouldn’t have kept us here if she didn’t want us to fix something. We should look around, see what we can find. Wild, is it safe for us to split up, cover more ground?”

Wild grabbed his slate, pushing a few buttons. “I’ll check, give me a minute,” He disappeared in a ribbon of blue sparks, leaving the rest of them to wonder exactly how much the slate could do.

True to his word, Wild was back quickly. “I just talked to a friend, he said there hasn’t been a blood moon since I last cleared the Guardians out of this area. We should be fine, other than the normal monsters,”

Time nodded. “That settles it. Warriors, Four and Wind, you come with me to the east. ‘Rule, Legend, Twi, Wild and Sky, you go to the south. Just look for anything suspicious, and we’ll meet back here at dusk. Everyone okay with that?” various sounds of approval were heard, and the two groups set off.

Four walked close to Warriors. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he said, “We shouldn’t be splitting up. Especially not in Wild’s Hyrule.”

Warriors looked down to him. “Don’t worry so much. We’re not going that far, and there’s four of us. What could go wrong?”

“Famous last words.”

Warriors just grinned, although he was thinking the same thing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four, Wind, Time and Warriors make some interesting discoveries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick chapter warning- there is one (1) swear word. I also took some artistic liberties with Catletown, because this is an AU of an AU and things like canon mean nothing. Comments appreciated!

Four was _decidedly_ not happy.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but it seemed as if the single worst thing one could do in Wild’s Hyrule was wander off. So of course, that was exactly what they were doing. _Typical._

They walked through the field down a battered dirt path, trying not to trip over the dozens of rusted weapons strewn about (Four frowned at them—if all of the weapons in this Hyrule were as badly forged as these, it’s no wonder Wild was constantly breaking them). It was fairly easy-going, the four of them quickly getting rid of any stray chuchus that attempted attack, and not seeing any other monsters at all.

It was odd.

Warriors must have been thinking the same thing. “I honestly can’t believe that Wild took out _every_ monster in this area,” he said, hand wrapping around his sword. “This seems like a perfect position for an ambush.”

Four glanced around, analysing the surroundings. _No trees for anything to be hiding in, but too many ruins to completely rule out a surprise attack._ “Warriors is right. If we were to be attacked right now from the ruins, we’d be surrounded.”

“I know,” Time said calmly, “but we have no choice except to trust Wild’s judgement. He knows this place better than us, and if he’s sent us here without complaint, then we have no reason to believe it to be more dangerous than anywhere else.”

Warriors whipped around to Time. “You trust _Wild’s_ judgement? You can’t be serious, he wouldn’t know danger if it stabbed him in the jugular! Did you also trust him during the fishing incident?”

“Or the Bokoblin camp incident.” Wind piped up from behind.

“Or the Moblins.”

“Or the Lynel-“

Time held up a hand and shuddered. “ _Don’t_ bring up the Lynel. Goddess, Twilight didn’t let me hear the end of it, I don’t need you three mentioning it as well,” He sighed, pulled one hand down his face tiredly, then pointed at broken-down tower. “Alright, fine. What should we do? We don’t exactly know where we’re going, and at this point I’m beginning to doubt-“

An earth-shaking noise cut him off. It only took a moment of searching for Four to see a huge plume of smoke rising near the ruins of the castle. “Guess we know where we’re headed” he said, pointing. “Whatever that was must have had a lot of firepower for us to be able to hear it so loud from this distance.”

“Well, let’s go then!” Wind practically bounced off in the direction of the explosion. “I wonder what it could be? I didn’t know Wild had exploding monsters!”

“At this point? I’d be honestly surprised if he didn’t.”

* * *

If Four was worried about being attacked from the ruins before, now he was _terrified_.

They walked past building after building, all beaten and weathered down until they were nothing but shadowy husks. Splinters of furniture and beams crackled beneath their feet, and once bright cloths and flags were faded to grey. They jumped over a fallen watch-building, and Four nearly screamed when he turned a corner only to come face-to-face with the looming shell of a guardian (“Wild had to _kill_ these things?” Wind said in astonishment, attempting to kick it before being hastily pulled away by Warriors). A small, cuckoo-shaped cuddly toy lay singed among the carnage, decaying.

“Castletown.” Time breathed.

Four felt sick.

In the centre of the wreckage was what Four assumed to be a plaza, judging from the remains of a large fountain in the centre. One side of the topping piece had been completely blown off, and the other half veered sharply sideways, as if a tiny gust of wind could knock it off.

“What happened to this place?” Warriors slid a hand across an overturned wagon with two of its wheels torn off. No-one answered him.

Time looked stricken. “I knew, in the back of my mind, that it would be the same as everywhere else, but…” He trailed off. Four looked down. Of course Time was so troubled seeing it. It was the biggest thing that kept Wild up at night.

It was no secret that Time felt responsible for Twilight and Wild. Of course, being the oldest hero, he felt responsible for them all (except maybe for Legend and Warriors, but Time knew they would probably take offense at Time’s attempts to help them), and Four knew any of them would willingly sacrifice life and limb for one another, but the three of them were part of a lineage of mentor-mentee that was inimitable. Four didn’t mind, they were the only three that were biologically related, albeit distantly, so it was understandable they were protective of one another.

“Uh, guys? I think I’ve found our explosion.”

Wind was standing away from them, in front of an old building with one of its walls blown off. He pointed. “Look, all the moss on this rubble’s been burnt. Wouldn’t look like that if it was an old ruin.”

Time hummed. “That’s odd. The rest of the building looks fine, especially compared to the rest of the houses.”

“You think magic?” Four hoped not. 100-year-old magical buildings that seemingly generated explosions were never a good sign.

“Maybe. It would have to be powerful though, to have lasted this long.”

There was silence for a second, and Four considered the house. Other than the one wall, it seemed in perfect condition, at least on the outside. _Why destroy one wall of a 100-year-old house, if not to invite curious travellers?_

Warriors pulled out his sword. “Let’s look around. No use sitting out here wondering.”

The house was chaotic inside, once the stepped through the hole the blown-up wall left. A huge bookcase was lying on its side, books strewn around the floor in various states of decay. A table was fully set in the centre of the room, as if whoever lived there left in the middle of a meal, but a few of the plates had been shattered. Cobwebs strung across the rotting beams in the roof, and Wind screeched as he walked into one. A concerning amount of weapons lay above an empty fireplace. A deep oak desk stood in the corner. Every one of its drawers were strewn about the room except for one.

_Really?_ Four thought. _How more obvious can you be?_

Warriors saw what Four was looking at, and smirked. “A red rupee says it’s cursed.”

“Nah,” Said Wind. “There’s gonna be some weird monster in it, s’gonna try and eat your face off as soon as you open it. _Two_ red rupees.”

Four glanced at Time. He rolled his eyes. “Boys, stop playing around. We need to be serious. A _purple_ rupee says there’s nothing in it at all.”

Warriors whistled. “Sure you can cough that up, old man?”

“I won’t need to, trust me.”

“Open it, Four!”

Four gulped, and approached the desk with one hand on his Picori blade. Slowly, he grabbed the handle of the drawer. He stopped. “What if there’s actually something inside?”

“Just open it!” Groaned Warriors.

“It’s a genuine concern-“

“Four!”

“Fine!” Four took a deep breath, steeled himself, then slowly opened the drawer.

Something grabbed at him from behind, clinging to his shoulders and _shrieking_.

He screamed, grabbing his sword and swinging hard. The _thing_ ducked down, just missing getting it’s head cut clean off. It burst out laughing. Four scowled. “Warriors!”

“Hylia, your _face_!” Warriors snickered from the ground.

Wind pushed past Four, looking into the drawer. “Aww, no monster. Doesn’t look like there’s anything in it. You were right, Time.”

Time smiled smugly. “Of course I wa-“

“No, wait! I see something!”

“Damn.”

Wind pulled out a small metal lockbox. Despite the thin layer of dust over it, Four could see that it was ornate: vines curled around the lock in spirals of copper and brass, and when Wind rubbed a sleeve along it to clear it of the dust, it shimmered in the light as if woven together with strands of gold. It seemed to glow with a magic that felt all too familiar.

“Damn,” Warriors said. “That practically looks royal.”

Four nodded. “Is it locked?”

“Yeah, but gimme a minute…” Wind placed it on the desk, and grabbed out a small bundle of lockpicks. Time gave him a Disappointed Stare. “Since when did you know how to pick locks?”

Wind glanced at him, unamused. “Uh, pirate? Now shh, I need to focus.”

They were begrudgingly silent, until Wind let out a quiet ‘aha!’ and the lid popped open. “This better be something good, do you know how difficult it is to get lockpicks without raising suspicion?” Time took it from Wind, ignoring his complaints, and opened it.

“Is that it?” Four was slightly unimpressed. Time held a small envelope, yellowed with age in his hand.

“Maybe there’s something important inside?” Time flipped the envelope around. “’ _To my son,_ ’” He read. “Huh. Seems a bit formal to give to a relative.” He tore the envelope open, and took out the letter inside.

Four wandered further around the house, up a flight of stairs tucked into the corner, until he reached a bedroom. A large double bed stood in the corner, mattress ripped and bedding littering the floor, and Four’s heart sank at the sight of a small crib in the corner. He turned away, but it only gave a face to the family.

A huge portrait hung on the right wall. A young woman was painted, with a bright smile and shining eyes, leaning against a man, who wasn’t paying attention to the painter, but rather staring lovingly at a baby in his arms. They looked happy, comfortable, relaxed.

Familiar.

Wind and Warriors came running up the stairs. “Hey Four, I think we should go,” Warriors panted. “After reading whatever was on that letter—he didn’t even let me touch it, Goddess—the old man looks like he’s about to have a heart attack- hey, that guy looks like Twilight!”

Wind squinted at the portrait. “Yeah, it does. Weird.” Four narrowed his eyes. _That guy looks a **lot** like Twilight._

Warriors laughed nervously. “What an odd coincidence. Maybe it’s his descendant?” He glanced at Wind and Four, and his smile faded. “You can’t seriously think that’s actually him, right? It can’t be.”

Suddenly, they were all blasted to the side as a chunk of the roof was blown off. The house creaked and cracked under the blast, and Time came pounding up the stairs, face pale. “We need to go. _Now_. Infected Moblins with bombs. I think this is Twilight’s-“ Time stared at the portrait, at the man, then finally at the baby. Four watched his eye close, a pained noise escaping him as more of the house was wrecked, before he looked up once again.

“Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many chapters can I make without Wild in a Wild-centric fic? who knows!
> 
> (Jk he'll be in the next chapter)
> 
> So what's up with Twilight? Y'all figured out what I'm doing yet? (probably)
> 
> Once again, comments appreciated, because I still have no idea what I'm doing and I'm a slut for feedback


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, this is a long one. Mind the change in the tags, SOMEONE'S back on his bullshit. Also, trigger warning for descriptions of dissociation and death, and really badly written fight scenes.

If one more of the group hurt themselves doing something dumb, Twilight was going to _lose it_.

It had only been a few hours since they split up, and already Sky had fallen down a small stone ledge and hurt his knee, Hyrule had been thrown off the back of the rock he had been sitting on—Wild had said it was a Pebblit, then promptly lifted it over his head and lobbed it at a tree, which, _oh my Goddess_ —and Twilight knew Legend had been limping ever since he twisted his ankle tripping over a tree root, even though he tried to deny it. At least Wild was okay, for once.

Well. _Okay_ may not have been the right term.

Although he had relaxed somewhat since their conversation the night before, Twilight could still see the clench of his jaw, the way his hand flickered toward his bow at any sound as he walked a few paces ahead of them. Twilight sighed. He needed to fix this.

After ensuring that the other three weren’t paying attention to him, Twilight caught up to Wild. “Hey, cub.”

Twilight didn’t miss the way Wild’s ears twitched at the sudden sound of his voice, nor the almost imperceptible straightening of his back before he realised who was talking. “Hey Twi,” he said quietly. _At least he was talking, that’s good. Next step. Don’t beat around the bush, keep it straight to the point._

“Y’seem nervous.” _Too straight to the point!_

Wild’s face went carefully blank. _Fantastic job Twilight_. _10/10 mentorship. Time would be so proud._ “I’m fine,” he said slowly, ”just looking out for monsters, is all.”

Twilight groaned internally at himself. Then, he had an idea. “You know, when I was younger, I sometimes felt like no one could understand me.”

Wild raised an eyebrow. “Are you giving me the puberty talk?”

“No! Well, kind of? I don’t know,” he ran a hand through his hair. “Just, I’m worried about you, Cub. You don’t seem as relaxed as you are in other Hyrules, and don’t give me that ‘I want to protect y’all from my Hyrule’ business, you know we can handle ourselves just fine. I want to help you.”

Wild’s eyes softened. “You already have,” he said softly. Then he frowned slightly. “I guess it’s just the memories attached to this place. Or, lack thereof,” He chuckled humourlessly. “When I’m in other Hyrules, I’m not constantly faced with everything I’ve done wrong, or being told that I alone have to save everything. When I’m in someone else’s Hyrule, I’m not Link anymore.” he kicked a loose pebble on the ground. “You know, one of the only things I know about him- me, before, is that I never talked. Even then I was too afraid to talk, for fear of saying the wrong thing. The only reason I do now is because I can’t see any way that I can fail more than I already have.” He sniffled.

“Oh, Cub.” Twilight pulled him into his arms. Wild clung onto him for a second, took three huge breaths, looked up and seemed to suck the tears back by willpower alone, then let go. Twilight held him at arms’ length. “Wild, listen to me. You will never, _never_ , be able to fail in my eyes. You’ll make mistakes, yeah, but you won’t fail. Before? That wasn’t just you. That was whatever soldiers that were fighting with you for not watching your back, that was the royal family for not preparing, Goddess, it was even Hylia herself, for sending you to fight a death sentence. You can’t control the hand you’re given, nor can you control the actions of other people. You did everything just right, Cub. You did everything you could.”

“But I didn’t! I failed, I crashed and _burned_ , Twi, I-“

“Stars burn so they can shine, Cub,” Twilight smiled gently. “I’m so, so proud of you.”

A sudden explosion halted them. _I really can't get a break, can I?_ “What was that?” Hyrule asked, hand on his bow.

Wild hummed thoughtfully. “I’ll look around.” In an unsurprising show of skill, Wild hopped up onto a tree and began scanning the area. “There! It came from the ruins to the south!”

Legend groaned. “What’s the betting that the others are in the middle of it?”

“Almost certainly.” Wild looked out once again. “We won’t make it over there on foot before nightfall. We’ll need to use my slate.”

The group collectively grimaced. They tried to make a point to not use Wild’s slate any more than they had to. “Are you sure you have _nothing_ else?”

“Come on, it’s not that bad!”

“The last time we did it, Wind fainted.”

“He was _fine_.”

“He was unconscious for two days!”

“I actually kind of like it,” Sky said. “It kind of feels like flying.”

Twilight huffed. “Alright, fine. We’ll use your stupid magic tablet, just this once.”

Wild grinned. “Great. Everyone grab on.”

They all took hold of some part of the slate, some more reluctantly than others, and in a flash of blue light, Twilight felt his feet leave the ground. _Ew_.

When they landed, it felt as if his stomach had been shoved up into his throat. He wobbled for a moment, then hastily caught Sky as he almost toppled over. “Never mind,” He said, green in the face, “It’s not like flying at all.”

Wild was already walking around, scanning his surroundings for the source of the explosions. At the sound of another blast, he perked up. “They’re close! Let’s go.”

Twilight rolled his eyes, and quickly regretted it as the world kept spinning even after he tried to focus. “Can we have a minute?”

“I’m going to throw up,” Legend agreed.

Wild snickered. “Here I was, thinking _Time_ was the old man!” he pulled Hyrule from his spot, face down on the ground. “C’mon. They might be in trouble.”

* * *

When they got to the source of the explosions, it was chaos.

They were heavily outnumbered. Various Moblins were firing exploding arrows into the fray, and the rest were quickly circling in on the other heroes. Four and Wind were using their height to weave between the legs of the beasts, slashing up and making them immobile. Warriors was off to the side, fighting two Moblins at once, and Time was right in the middle, in heated battle with his own. It seemed as if the Moblins had been felled many times before (judging from the amount of infected blood covering the others’ tunics), and Twilight watched as Warriors cut one down, only for it to get back up again a few minutes later.

With a shout, the five watching jumped into the battle. Twilight immediately went to Time’s back, parrying the Moblin about to attack him. Time turned, surprised. He smirked at Twilight. “Thanks pup,” he said, “But I had it.”

Twilight scoffed. “Yeah, right. Y’all’d’ve been dead by now if we hadn’t seen an explosion and come to help ya.”

Warriors groaned from near them. “ _Please_ don’t say that.”

“What, that you’d be dead?” Twilight slashed at a beast’s legs.

“No.” Warriors stabbed a monster, not bothering to watch it fall before moving on to the next. “ _Y’all’d’ve_.”

“Ha! Y’ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

The battle was quick with all of them fighting. Once Hyrule got rid of the Moblin archers, it was only a matter of time before the last of the creatures was sent skittering away through the ruins.

Breathing heavily, Time looked around at the heroes. “Everyone okay?”

Sky limped up to them with Hyrule, both with one arm wrapped around Legend. “We’re alright,” Hyrule said. “Sky’s broken a toe, and I fell from a ruin, but we should be okay. Legend got a concussion, and is about to pass out.”

“Hey!” Legend said indignantly, before sagging between them, unconscious.

“Okay, not bad. Wind?”

Wind gave him a tired thumbs up. “I’m fine, I was really just immobilising them with Four.”

Warriors looked around. “Where is Four?”

“Guys!”

Twilight turned at the sound of the desperate cry, at was met with a sight that sent his blood cold.

Four, leaning over a body, a huge Moblin spear sticking out of its abdomen.

The body wasn’t moving, a blue tunic stained with blood.

_That was Wild._

_That was his Cub._

Twilight was running before he had even registered what was happening. He skidded to a halt in front of them, sinking to his knees. Four stepped back, hand over his mouth. “It snuck up behind me... he pushed me out- out of the way...”

Twilight didn’t hear him, too busy searching for any sign of his protégé being alive. “Fuck, Cub, can you hear me?” He grabbed Wild’s hand, where it was scrabbling at his tunic, trying to quell the _blood ~~somuchblood.~~_ ~~~~

Wild groaned, opening clouded eyes to stare hazily at Twilight. “…Twi?” He mumbled hoarsely. He whimpered, and the wolf part of Twilight’s brain went into protective overdrive. “Hurts.”

“I know, Cub, I know. You’ll be okay, please, please be okay Cub, you have to be _okay_ ,” Twilight’s voice broke, and he sobbed. “Please, Cub. I can’t lose you too, you can’t, I can’t.”

Wild took a shuddering breath, before going deathly pale and bursting out in hacking coughs. When he finished, blood stained his lips. “Twi.”

“Please, stay with me, you can’t-”

“ _Twi._ ” Wild looked up at him. “Let go.” His voice was almost inaudible, eyes looking out into nothing, in the direction of Twilight’s face.

His hand loosened, then fell from Twilight’s grasp.

_No_. Twilight felt disconnected from himself, as if he were watching from afar. This couldn’t be real, Wild wasn’t supposed to die. He was only _sixteen_ , for Hylia’s sake. He was just a kid, he’d been through so much, he couldn’t die when Twilight could’ve stopped it.

Vaguely, he heard a gasp behind him, but it felt as if his senses were bent and twisted. He grasped at Wild’s shoulder. He didn’t move.

He heard someone say something behind him, then hands were grabbing him, pulling him, _taking him away from his Cub._ “Stop! No, no, no, please!” He thrashed in the arms holding him, desperately trying to get back to Wild. The hands didn’t budge, and everywhere they touched prickled at his skin like thorns.

“Twilight! Pup, look at me!” Twilight tried to focus on the man in front of him, but he felt like he was underwater. He squeezed his eyes shut.

“Breathe, Pup. Deep breaths.”

After a moment, Twilight’s vision cleared up. Time was holding him close to his chest, and Twilight remembered with a start that the others were all there too.

Warriors had Four and Wind clinging to his arms. Four was visibly shaking, muttering under his breath and holding on to Warriors tight. Hyrule and Sky were leaning heavily on each other and still-unconscious Legend, weeping. Time was pale, but he was looking over Twilight’s shoulder. “Pup, look.”

When Twilight turned, he was met with a shock of teal light. He squinted, just barely making out the shape of a woman—A Zora, petite and surrounded by the blue light—before the light dissipated, and left Wild, spear laying by his side. Then, he sat up with a yell, grabbing the spear next to him.

Wild breathed heavily, searched the area for any danger. When he saw none, he drooped, sighing.

All was silent for a moment. Then, Hyrule spoke. “Wild, what is _Hylia’s_ name...?”

Wild looked at him, grimaced, and the last thing he said before passing out was, “I’ll _spear_ you the details.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by: this one scene in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, Harry Potter portkeys, bad puns at awkward times, and the lovely people on the LU discord who helped me figure out how to write Southern Twilight (hope I did alright!) 
> 
> We're really getting into the thick of things! This is where the story starts ACTUALLY being about Wild, and trust me, I'm planning for angst. Comments appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild wants to know what Time was reading, and learns a thing or two about himself Before. Time panics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like this one much. Sorry it took so long, Homework's a bitch.

Wild felt as if he was thinking of apologies before he even woke up. Apologies to Time, to Twilight, even to Mipha.

_‘Apologising to Mipha would be rather redundant at this point_ ,’ Revali scoffed in his mind. ‘ _Given the amount of times you’ve made her use her power. Anyway, there’s no point in apologising now, she’s resting.’_

Wild startled at Revali’s voice, before remembering why he was hearing it. He _really_ wished the other champions hadn’t decided to make a home in his head. Four other people living in one body (that wasn’t even _theirs_ in the first place, for Hylia’s sake) didn’t bode well for his sanity. No matter how dead they were.

Wild opened his eyes slowly. His head throbbed and his mouth felt like sand, but otherwise he wasn’t too bad. It looked like he was in a stable—one of the ones closest to the Castletown ruins—and he was laying on one of their softest beds. He sighed happily. He hadn’t been in a bed for weeks _._ He calmly surveyed his surroundings, until he saw Time, and his whole body went on high alert.

Time didn’t sleep much. That was just something they had all come to terms with. They didn’t ask, just like they didn’t ask why Wind was so terrified of them being kidnapped, or why Legend refused to look any portraits they saw in the eye, or why Four would seem to zone out and begin talking to himself sometimes. They all had their secrets, and they would tell each other when they felt like they could. But Time never _looked_ as if he hadn’t slept. As Wild watched him, he could see the way his eye twitched ever so slightly, the way he swayed as he read over a letter in his hand. “It can’t be,” he mumbled to himself, “It’s not possible.”

Wild raised an eyebrow. Time never talked to himself. “What’cha reading?” He attempted to say, but over the dryness of his throat it came out as an unintelligible rasp.

Time startled, looking up at him and stuffing the letter in his pocket, eye wide with panic. _Time never panicked_. “You’re awake, Cub.”

Wild nodded, opened his mouth, then remembered his predicament. _‘Yeah. What were you reading?’_ He signed.

Time got up suddenly. “You must be thirsty, you were out for two days. Almost gave Twilight a heart attack.” He thrust a waterskin at Wild, who drank greedily.

_‘Focus, Link,’_ Urbosa said. _‘He’s deflecting.’_

Wild cleared his throat. “Thanks. What were you reading?”

Time ignored him. “Pup’s been worried sick about you, only got him to go to sleep a couple hours ago-“

“Time.”

“Not to mention Four, he’s barely eaten since-“

“ _Time_.”

“You’re probably hungry too. I’ll get one of the others to make you-“

“ _Time!_ ”

“ _Drop_ it.” Time snarled.

Wild’s back prickled all the way up to his neck. He suddenly felt as if he needed to jump out of bed and stand at attention. _Getupgetupgetup he’s angry-_ “Sorry.” The word comes out without Wild’s permission. He took a breath. _This is Time. He’s not going to hurt you. You’re fine. Why are you acting like this?_

_‘You always were jumpy. You know, before,’_ Daruk said. _‘And this guy is pretty similar to your old captain, back when you were a knight.’_ The thought of Time being like his old captain sent shivers up his spine. _No, he’s not. They not at all alike._

Time sighed, noticing his reaction. “Sorry, Cub. I didn’t mean to shout. I just…” He sat back down. “You scared us. I mean, I knew you were self-sacrificing, that’s just a part of the Hero’s Spirit, but that? That was _suicide_ , Wild. That’s not how we work, you don’t need to jump in front of a spear when Four could’ve handled it, or you could have shouted. We’re a _team_.”

“I know we’re a team, but what would’ve happened if he _couldn’t_ handle it? I was the only one there, I was the only one who could see it happening, and as far as I know, I’m the only one who can come back. It just makes more sense for me to die and come back, than to lose Four completely. It’s more efficient.”

_‘Link. You absolute Goddess-damned dumb fuck.’_

“What?” Time stared blankly at him for a second, then flopped back heavily on his chair. He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Goddess Cub, you’re going to give me a heart attack. Is that really how little you think of yourself? It’s not ‘efficient’ to die for someone else, even if you can come back. You’re not a weapon.”

“I’m not _saying_ that!”

“Then what are you saying? That you’re disposable? That it doesn’t matter if you die? You didn’t see Twilight before you came back. You didn’t see Four. What if whatever brings you back suddenly doesn’t work? You’re just as much a part of this group as any of the rest of us, and we’re not going to treat you like ammunition.”

“But… if I didn’t do what I could to help, and Four di- got hurt because of it, then it’s my fault!”

“Wild, if something happened to _you_ it would be _my_ fault. You’re sixteen-“

“I’m actually one-hundred and sixteen.”

“You’re _mentally and physically_ sixteen, you’re a child. You’ve done so much for this Hyrule, and now Hylia’s asking you to do more. I know you think you need to carry all that weight on your shoulders alone, but you need to remember that we’re all here, fighting, with you. We’re a team. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself whenever there’s danger, and if you do, please don’t make a _pun_ about it afterwards, or I swear I’ll have an aneurysm. For you to be able to blow it off like that… How many times has something this happened?”

_‘it’s happened seventy-eight times. At least since I’ve been here.’_ Said Urbosa, helpfully.

“I don’t know, a few?”

“And you think that’s okay?”

Wild shrugged. “It’s just life. People die, and I’ve been given a power that can help other people.”

“ _Hylia_.” Time put his head in his hands. “Alright, that’s it. Get up.”

Time pulled Wild out of his bed, and, despite Wild’s protests, dragged him out of the stable. All of the others were sitting around one of the cooking pots, solemn.

“…-don’t understand why none of you will tell me what happened!” Wild heard Legend yell. The others looked uncomfortable. “I only passed out for a few minutes, then Wild was half-dead and everyone was crying!”

Time cleared his throat. “Guys, I have a question.”

“Wild!”

“You’re okay!”

Twilight shot up from the ground and strode towards Wild, eyes blazing. “I swear to _Hylia_ , Cub, if you ever pull something like that again I’ll _rip your eyes out_. Do you know how worried we were? You _died_ , I’m going to _kill_ you! I’m so glad you’re okay-“

“Twilight, do you think it’s more efficient for Wild to die than for all of us to figure out a plan as a team?”

Various voices shouted from around the camp. All of the other heroes crowded around Wild, faces a mixture of angry and sad and indignant and worried. Wild could barely make out what they were saying, but something in his heart that had been cold since he woke up warmed.

_‘You’ve got a good family here, kid.’_

_‘Maybe you won’t feel the need to rely on us to save you as much now.’_

_‘May they protect you just as well as we try, little Hylian.’_

Someone—Warriors—put a hand on his shoulder. Another hand took his elbow. Four had both arms wrapped around him. The group turned from gentle touches to an all-out cuddle pile, so it was no surprise when one person lost their footing and brought the whole group down in a heap. Wild looked around at them. At Four, who looked an inch from crying, and Wind, who already was. At Twilight, who couldn’t seem to decide whether he was angry or happy, and at Legend, who still looked confused, but was in the middle of the hug anyway. He looked at Time. He looked sad. Wild realised he had never found out what Time was reading, or why he was so panicked at the thought of Wild finding out. _Well guys,_ he thought, _I guess we know what we’re going to be figuring out._

_‘Good,’_ Said Urbosa. _‘I don’t like secrets.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the other Champions make an appearance! Honestly, I don't really like this, but it's more of a prelude to all the fun things that happen next chapter, so never mind. Was the way I wrote the other Champions understandable? Comments appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild wonders who he dreams about, and Wind and Time argue. Lies ensue. TW for very vague mentions of child abuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to realise that this is getting slightly less Wild centric, and more Time, Twi and Wild centric. Never mind. Shortish kind of filler chapter.

Time wished he could talk to Malon. She would know what to do.

Because, really? This wasn’t something he should have to deal with. He should’ve been at home, dancing with Malon and accidentally burning dinner. He should’ve been helping on the ranch and spending nights cuddled up by the fire. Instead, he was on another world, trying to stop eight traumatised heroes from accidentally killing each other.

Time guessed he shouldn’t complain. At that moment, nothing was really going wrong. It had been two days since the Castletown fiasco, and they were _still_ in Wild’s Hyrule, but it was calm in the camp. Warriors was telling some exaggerated story about a girl he met at a bar, while Four, Hyrule and Sky watched with varying degrees of disbelief on their faces. Wind was looking at Time with an unreadable expression. _Oh, Hylia._

Wind strode over to him, chest puffed up and face stony, seemingly ready to fight Time if he said the wrong thing. “I want to know what you found in that house.”

Time sighed. He knew he couldn’t get away from Wind’s curiosity for much longer. “Okay.”

“I’m not asking, you need to- wait, really?”

Time hesitated. “I can tell you… some of it. Not all. And not here.” He got up, pausing in a last ditch attempt to get Wind to lose interest, and led Wind to the edge of their camp when he showed no signs of boredom. He could feel the weight of the letter in his pocket, almost as if the weight of knowing what it would do to them, to this family they had created, was physical.

He sat against a tree, Wind beside him, and got the letter out. “This is what I found.”

“Oh.” Wind contemplated it. “What… is it cursed or something?”

Time fought the urge to roll his eye. “It’s in Twilight’s handwriting.”

“Yeah? It was Twilight’s house? Did you think we just missed the huge painting of him?”

“No, I mean- just read it.” He handed the letter over to Wind. He seemed to get more and more confused the further he read. “Well, he hasn’t got any less vague in his old age, what’s this supposed to even mea-wait. _Holy shit_.” Wind‘s eyes snapped up to Time’s disbelievingly. “Really? Are you sure?”

Time nodded. “Positive.”

“Huh.” Wind leaned back onto the tree behind them. “Wow. Wasn’t expecting that. It does make sense though. Explains a lot,” He frowned at Time. “How are you going to tell him?”

Time groaned. “I don’t know, how do you say something like that? It’s not exactly the type of thing you’d say over dinner.”

“So you’re just going to keep quiet?”

“That’s the plan.”

“You do realise it’s going to end up even worse if you keep quiet?”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“This isn’t something you can hide. This is serious. This is _family._ ”

“I know.”

“How would you feel, if it was you and Malon-“

“Don’t bring her into this.”

“How would _she_ feel-“

“I’m doing this for their own good-“

“You’re a _coward_.”

Time startled at the venom in Wind’s voice. “What?”

“Never thought I’d say it, but yeah. That’s cowardly, Time. You’re not telling him because _you_ don’t want to. It’s _family,_ it’s important. This isn’t something you can shove under the rug.”

“What’s Time shoving under the rug?” Time jumped at the sound of Legend’s voice. He turned to see the expectant faces of Legend, Warriors, and Four.

“Oh, nothing. Time just has something to say.” Wind gave him a loaded look.

“Oh? What’s up?”

The others waited. Time swallowed. “Nothing bad, just…” He looked away from Wind. “I’m thinking we should move. The monsters must have known we were here. We’ll be ambushed by morning if we stay here.”

"Really, that's it? Goddess, you could have just told us," Legend said. "Let's pack up then."

Various noises of agreement were made. Wind stared at Time and shook his head, eyes hard.

“Imagine if it was you.”

Wind turned to help Four with a bag. Time looked away.

* * *

Wild’s day had gone from bad to worse, and honestly? He wasn’t expecting it to get much better.

It had started to rain as they trudged away from the camp that Time said would be overrun with monsters (Wild didn’t think so, his monsters rarely strayed away from ruins or camps, but Time knew what was best for the group, so who was he to judge), because _of course_ it had, and Wild was feeling the effects of his bad night weigh down on him. He had woken up with a scream lodged in his throat. _T_ _hat_ wasn’t really unique, but the _reason_ for his fear surprised him. He didn’t wake up ready to push Zelda out of the way, or waiting for the blast of a guardian. The only thing he felt was the need to escape, to run away from _him_.

Him. Wild had never been scared of a _him_ before.

The others occasionally talked about their Ganons, about how some of them took the form of a Gerudo man. No matter how hard Wild tried, he couldn’t think of the Calamity in the context of something that had thoughts past hate and malice. So who was _him_? It wouldn’t be the guardians, or Master Kohga (honestly, the thought of being scared of him almost made Wild laugh), or anything from the other battles he had fought, so who? Who was he close enough to, to feel the need to run? What had triggered this particular nightmare, when all he had to run from was the feeling that he was dragging the others down?

Oh. _That_ was a fun thought.

Sometimes he did feel as if he needed to run away from the others. Sometimes they talked about what they did for the few moments of peace after their adventure, the friends they had, and Wild felt his scars burn. They told stories about their Zeldas, and he felt sick to the stomach knowing that the only thing Zelda felt when thinking of him was bitterness. Before the Calamity, he was everything she couldn’t be. Now, he was everything she lost.

_‘That’s not true, little Hylian. You’re her friend.’_

But he wasn’t, was he? Urbosa was her friend. She was dead. A few months ago he had remembered the young maid she had been friends with, but it didn’t matter because she was dead too. Wild knew that Link might have been friends with her, given time, but he was as good as dead. All that was left was him. The Wild half. The half that survived the Shrine. The part of him that he knew had been all but beaten out of him (Wild shivered. _Beaten out of him_.) during his training as a knight, the part that his father hated ( _Run. Run far away_ ), the only part that was left of him-

“Wild?”

Someone near him. Someone important, someone was talking to him. Ordering him? What was his order? He missed it, he missed it and he couldn’t ask again because if he asked again he would be punished. He needed to get away, he needed to run until he was far away.

_‘Link, stop. It’s Twilight. You’re okay.’_

Twilight. Twilight was good, Twilight was safe, he could trust Twilight, he didn’t need to run. “Cub? You okay?”

As he focused of Twilight's worried face, Wild realised how unfair it would be to burden Twilight with something as pitiful as his _feelings_. (At that thought, Revali cut in with a ' _I think we need to have a talk about your tendency to lie'_ , which Wild resolutely ignored). He tried to smile reassuringly, but it felt more like a grimace than anything. “I’m good. Sorry, did I fall behind?”

Twilight gave him one of his patented _We’re talking about this later_ looks, and Wild cracked his knuckles nervously. “It’s alright, we’re stopping here for the night.” He began to walk away, then turned again. “And don’t crack your knuckles. You’ll get arthritis.”

Wild smirked, and he felt his heart begin to beat slower. “Who are you, my mother?”

Warriors tried to cover his snort with his hand. Legend had no such qualms, and burst out laughing, and Wind (who was unfortunately taking a drink at just the wrong time) choked on his water. Twilight glared, but his eyes twinkled. He put his hands on his hips. “You watch what you say, young man. I’ll have your mouth washed out with soap.”

Wild smiled. He looked around, at Hyrule, who was now supporting a wheezing Legend, and at Sky and Four, who were snickering at Warriors' face as he tried (and failed) to stop what had turned into a snort-attack. Then he watched as Wind, who had finally coughed up all his water, glared at Time. They seemed to have a silent argument, before Wind huffed. Wild frowned. _More secrets._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Projecting my own nervous habits onto Wild? It can't be.
> 
> So, Wind knows what Time knows. I know what Time knows. Do y'all know? Who knows. Tbh, I'm still not happy with exactly how this chapter came out, but the last two have kind of just been build-up to the climax, which is drawing ever nearer. Also, I tried out a new format with the POV-switching, just because I wanted that lil bit of Time POV while also focusing on Wild's current crisis. Tell me what you think, about my writing, about what you think is gonna happen, anything! I crave human interaction in these trying times


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth comes out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one. This is a realllllly long one. This chapter is over 3000 words long, jesus christ. TW for panic attacks and the implied/referenced child abuse tag that comes into play. This is also completely unproofread because this chapter gave me hell to write, and I'm too tired to read over it, and I've got homework to do

The group had always had their bad days. Warriors occasionally treated them as if they were a squadron he was assigned to and nothing more. When they were talking about their adventures, Sky would sometimes look sick to the stomach and turn away (Wind once talked about a near-death experience he had, and Sky left the camp for the whole night). Nine heroes with years of adventure (trauma) under their belts was bound to cause arguments, but this they were always like hurricane. Quick, raging for minutes or hours, overt and fiery, then back to normal. But Hyrule felt as if, in that moment, he was in the middle of a Cold War.

When it was clear they wouldn’t be leaving Wild’s Hyrule any time soon, they decided to make their way to Wild’s house in a nearby village. For a moment Wild seemed nonchalant about the walk, but then frowned. “Huh.” he said, flipping across his Slate. “It’s not registering any of the shrines, only the towers.” He looked up at Time. “We can’t walk all the way from here to Hateno. The only other way to get there quick enough is… nah, you couldn’t do that.”

Legend rolled his eyes. “Wild, we’re _seasoned_ adventurers. One little trial isn’t going to stop us.”

“How about a mountain-sized drop?”

“A _what_.”

Wild only smirked, and held out his Slate. “Well, _seasoned adventurer_? What are you waiting for?”

Legend darkened. “Shut the Hylia up, Wild.” He put his hand on the Slate sulkily, while Wild grinned. They all shuffled closer, squishing together so all nine of them could get a good grip on the Slate, and Hyrule thought for a moment that Wild was bluffing about the drop.

Then they were in the sky.

Air rushed past Hyrule’s ears, and his knees buckled. His heart went into his throat as he fell. Someone screamed.

Sky frowned at them. “You all act as if you’ve never been at the top of a tower before.”

Hyrule realised with a jolt that he wasn’t in fact falling from a great height, he was on a large tower. He was falling because he had fallen _over_ , not out from the sky. _Stupid Slate and it’s stupid teleportation._ He huffed. Although, it seemed as if the others were in a similar predicament, so he didn’t feel quite as embarrassed.

Four was gripping a railing, swaying slightly. Warriors was leant against a small structure in the centre of the tower, which Wind had thrown himself over, and both were groaning. Twilight had fallen over, face-down, and Time was trying _very_ hard to look blasé, but they could all see the pale of his face and the clench of his fists.

Wild smiled. “You still wanna keep going?” He teased.

Legend scowled, muttering curses from the ground next to Legend. “Well, whoop-de-fucking-do, you’ve got us on the top of a huge tower. How the fuck are we supposed to get down?”

Hyrule steeled himself, then looked down. He looked back up immediately, feeling even more sick than he did before. “Uh, yeah. That’s a _long_ drop.”

Wild frowned. “I dunno, I usually just paraglide. I got all the thorns off a while ago, but you’re all not as good at climbing as me.”

Twilight took out his clawshot. “Some of us have these, don’t we? We could use ‘em and carry the others down.”

A few of the group nodded, taking out their hookshots, and Wild took out his paraglider. Only Hyrule, Sky, Warriors, and Four didn’t have anything. Twilight nodded. “Okay, we’ll have to compromise. Legend, you’ll be takin’ Hyrule down with ya. Wind, you give yours to Warriors and teach ‘im how to use it, then Four can go with him. Then you can go with Time.”

“No.”

The group turned to Wind. He was standing tall, chest puffed, face stony.

“What?” Twilight said. “You’re the second shortest, Time is the second tallest. You have to go with him.”

“I’m not.”

“The Hylia do you mean, ‘you’re not’? This isn’t up for debate.” Legend said. “It’s just Time. What’s got your tunic in a twist?”

“I’m not going with him.”

Time sighed. “Wind, could we do this somewhere-“

“No. I’m not going with Time, and that’s that!” Wind looked very close to stomping his foot. He sat down with a huff, crossing his arms.

There was silent for a moment, and Hyrule suddenly became very aware that he had absolutely no idea how to deal with kids. Luckily, Warriors saved them from having to awkwardly comfort an angry teen.

He wrapped an arm around Wind’s shoulder. “Hey, bud. What’s happening?” He said softly. Wind ripped himself away, and Hyrule’s hope for a casual day was even more ruined. “Don’t talk to me like I’m an eight-year-old.”

Legend rolled his eyes. “Well, you’re kind of acting like one at the moment.”

“At least I’m not keeping secrets!”

“Wind. This _isn’t_ the time.”

“Then when _is_ going to be the time? You can’t just keep-“

“What I choose to say, and when I choose to say it doesn’t concern you.”

“It doesn’t concern you, either! You’re just the messenger!”

“Wind, I swear to _Hylia-_ “

“ _Guys_.” Hyrule looked at Wild. He looked unimpressed, leant carelessly against a pillar along the edge of the tower, paraglider out, but there was a subtle clench of his jaw that told Hyrule that he felt the hostility between two of the most amicable heroes of the group. “If it’s that much of a problem, Wind can come with me. Whatever Time’s trying to hide, it’s his business, he doesn’t need to share it with us.” Hyrule didn’t miss Wild’s choice of wording. _‘Whatever Time’s trying to hide.’ Wild doesn’t know anything either?_

Wind looked conflicted. He gave Time a long, meaningful stare that shouldn’t have been nearly as potent as the fourteen-year-old was making it. Then he sighed, and with one final glare at Time, he stood up. “Fine.”

Hyrule sighed, relieved. At least they could stave off the fight until they were on solid ground.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Twilight chuckled and ruffled Wild’s hair. “Couldn’ta said it better myself, Cub. Now let’s go, I think Four’s about to pass out. Poor kid’s never been this tall.”

* * *

Eventually, after a good amount of groaning and cursing the height of the tower they had all made it down safely. Wild and Wind were no help, obviously. Wild had pulled a stunt that involved him jumping directly off the edge of the tower (Hyrule will never forget the sound of seven hardened professionals scream like babies in the eyeline of a Bokoblin), then free-falling and catching himself with his paraglider at the last minute, Wind clinging to his neck like a vice. After that, they had snickered to themselves for a while before Wild realised the lecture he would be getting from Twilight as soon as he made it down.

It was obvious they were all trying to ignore the Rebonack in the room; they were all walking around Time as if on eggshells. It was honestly a miracle that they made it to Wild’s house in one piece.

The sun was just setting when they arrived, washing Hateno in gold. The village was quiet, lanterns and fireplaces built along the edges of the main street (It was hardly a _street_ , there wasn’t paving or stone, it was more like a grass path beaten down by years of use) and the smell of a villager’s dinner wafting around them. It was peaceful, a welcome change in the vast chaos that was Wild’s Hyrule. Wild’s house—built just on the outskirts, across a short wooden bridge that seemed old but sturdy—was bathed in the sunset, and seemed to be almost a part of the greenery surrounding it. Hyrule sighed a breath of relief. They hadn’t slept in a house for weeks.

Wild’s Slate pinged as soon as they stepped inside. “I gotta go for a second, I have a friend here that likes to check in on me. You know, to make sure I’m not _too_ dead and all that.” He said absentmindedly, flicking through the Slate. “She made the Slate, so she must know what’s wrong with it. If you can’t make anything for dinner, there’s a shop in town.” As he walked out the door, he called back to them. “And don’t touch anything!”

As soon as the door slammed, the group started looking around. Sue them, Wild barely talked about his adventure, and they didn’t even know he _had_ a house before he mentioned it earlier that day.

“Woah, look at these!” Four pointed at a line of weapon racks, each sporting an ornate weapon or shield. Four stepped closer, and Twilight slapped his hand away from grabbing one of them. “I thought we learned about touching things from Legend’s house?”

Four pouted. “I know, I know, but look at that craftsmanship! I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Yeah, but we don’t know what spells it has on it. You remember what happened at Legend’s house.”

“I _told_ you not to touch the mask!”

“Exactly. There’s some weird shit in this Hyrule, so I wouldn’t risk messing around with stuff you don’t know the use of.”

Warriors’ voice drifted from the top of a small staircase. “Uh, guys? I think you might want to see this.”

Upstairs was what Hyrule assumed to be Wild’s bedroom. Honestly, it wasn’t much. A small bed that looked as if it had been sparsely used, a small bedside table with a book, and various photos and drawings dotted around the wall next to the bed. When Hyrule took a closer look, he saw Wild had annotated them all.

A photo of Wild and a girl. Both of them were smiling into the camera, and the girl had one arm wrapped around Wild’s shoulder. _‘Zelda. The only thing keeping me sane. DON’T FORGET.’_

A sketch of a frog, mid-jump. _‘Remember to find Tumbo frogs. He likes them.’_

A landscape of a large lake and a stone bridge. To Hyrule’s surprise, a huge, glowing green dragon was flying overhead. _‘Still trying to figure out how to ride him.’_

An old photo, yellowed at the edges, of Wild, the girl from before (Zelda, Hyrule’s brain supplied), and four other people. Wild was next to Zelda, unscarred, but straight faced. _Was this when Wild’s quest started?_ He looked young. Too young. _‘the champions of old. The reason I’m still here. Don’t forget.’_

“Oh, Hylia…”

Hyrule turned, to see Wind with the book that was on the nightstand. Inside were more drawings, but they weren’t like the ones on the walls. The ones Hyrule had seen before were light, sketches and beautiful scenes depicting nature. These were darker, all still annotated, but drawn with sharp, cutting lines. Huge beasts that seemed to shift and ooze on the very paper they were looking at, with bulbous, mechanical legs and eyes that Hyrule felt were looking right at him. The notes were unrefined, written like pages out of a madman’s journal.

_‘Dead. Gone. Can’t come back.’_

_‘Built on hate.’_

_‘Almost died finding it. Did die fighting it. Continue to die dreaming about it.’_

_‘I can hear him talking to me. I can feel myself listening.’_

_‘How can one being be filled with so much evil?’_

_‘Why can’t I die?’_

_‘Let me out. Let me go. I don’t want to be here anymore.’_

_‘What is real? What is a dream? What have I done? Who am I?’_

The last page had no drawings. Only words.

_I remembered something again. I remembered the Captain. He raised me, fed me, clothed me, trained me. I hate him. I hate him so much._

_I was a child. I didn’t need to be trained. I didn’t need to be told every day of my life that I’d suffer for my country or the country would suffer with me. I didn’t need to be so scared of pain that I wouldn’t talk so that nothing could lash out at me. I wanted safety. But maybe if I had listened to him I would have succeeded, he only wanted me to be the person I was destined to be. But he was wrong, wasn’t he? He took me as his son (or so I’m told—can’t remember), and Zelda says that people’s fathers are supposed to help them grow as a person, not as a weapon, but if I had been better, I could have done my duty._

_I remember him telling me that I either would suffer and die or all of Hyrule would suffer, but I’m suffering now, so isn’t Hyrule supposed to be saved? That’s how the story goes, the hero suffers for the kingdom and the kingdom flourishes, but I’ve been suffering for months and I’m still not strong enough to save anything._

_Maybe if I’d have just been better, he would have seen me as a son instead of a weapon, I could have made him proud. Maybe if I’d have been a better weapon, I could have been a son._

There was silence in the room, and Hyrule realised he had been reading aloud. The other heroes were staring at him.

“Was… is that Wild’s?” Time asked. This moment, in Hyrule’s opinion, was when everything went wrong.  
  


Wind whipped around to Time, eyes ablaze. “You need to tell him.”

“ _Wind_ , I said-“

“I don’t give a _damn_ what you said. This isn’t about you, and if you don’t tell him I will.”

Time’s eye widened. “Wind, don’t.”

“Time, what is he talking about? Who do you need to tell?” Twilight said.

It was funny, Hyrule thought, how if he got injured in a battle, there was always a moment just before when time seemed to slow down around him. Maybe it was a trick of the mind, maybe it was the adrenaline pumping through his system spiking and making the world go slow. Hyrule always felt as if time was just Hylia, and the moment before injury was her gasping and slowing everything down, just to see the moment Hyrule realises what was going to happen. _Hylia’s a bitch like that_ , Hyrule thought. _Makes you wait for the bomb to drop._

“Twi is Wild’s father.”

The bomb went off.

Twilight stared. ”No I’m not.” He looked at Time. “I’m not.”

Time, still frozen (Hyrule would have laughed at that in any other circumstance), blinked. Twilight took a step forward, almost pleading. “Time. It’s not true.”

Shaking himself, Time looked away. “I’m sorry. I was going to tell you-“

“ _Bullshit._ ” The word came from both Wind and Twilight.

“I was scared. I didn’t know what to do, I’m sorry-“

“How could you?”

In just a whisper, Hyrule felt every ounce of emotion pouring out of Twilight like a blast to the face.

Twilight paced across the room. “How could you not tell me? I thought we were a _team_ , Time, but you can’t even work up the balls to tell me something this _big_? What other secrets have you kept from us?” Twilight was shouting, the two of them nearly chest-to-chest, and now even Wind looked frightened.

“How was I supposed to? I _couldn’t_ , Pup, I couldn’t do that to you, I couldn’t add the stress of a _child_ into your life on top of all this!”

“I already had a child! For fuck’s sake Time, he was already my son!”

“I didn’t know that! I didn’t know how you’d react, and I _certainly_ didn’t know how Wild would!”

“Hey, I’m back, and I’ve got din-“

“So you decided to tell me after we read his diary, saying how much he hated his father? ‘Oh hey Twilight, Wild hates his dad, also you’re his father, surprise’? How was that supposed to make me react well?”

“ _What_.”

Hyrule swore. Wild was standing in the doorway, pale and wide-eyed, holding his Slate. It dropped out of his hands with a clang, and Time and Twilight snapped around to him.

Twilight was the first to snap out of it, pushing past Time with his hand outstretched. “Cub, I’m sorry-“

Wild reeled back so hard he hit the door. “Don’t touch me.” He snarled, curling into himself like a wounded animal. He flinched again, though no move was made against him. “ _Don’t fucking touch me_.”

Twilight snatched his hand away as if he were burned. He looked conflicted, as if he wanted to hug Wild and run as far away from him as possible at the same time. “Cub…”

Wild didn’t even seem to hear him. He was on the floor, twisted into a ball and muttering to himself. Every so often he would recoil from something Hyrule couldn’t see, and every time would only make him sob harder.

Legend pushed Twilight back gently. “Give him some room.” Then he knelt down to Wild, not touching him, but near enough for Wild to know he was there. “Hey, it’s just me, it’s just Legend. You’re fine.” Hyrule had never heard Legend as gentle as he was being. “You’re okay. Can I take your hand?”

A moment passed. Then, hesitantly, Wild’s hand came out from where they were, clutched to the front of his tunic. Lightly at first, Legend took it, then began to squeeze, waiting for Wild to do the same before squeezing again. “That’s it. Good. Is it okay if I ask you a few questions?”

A jerky nod. Legend began, still squeezing. “What’s your nickname?”

“W…Wild.”

“Good. How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

They went back and forth for what was probably minutes, but felt like hours. Every time Wild flinched, or stopped squeezing Legend’s hand, or couldn’t speak through the wheezing breaths that were slowly slowing down, Legend gently shushed him, and waited for him to regain his footing.

When Wild had gone from sobbing to silence, and had mostly stopped flinching, Legend spoke again. “You okay?”

Wild slowly pulled out of his ball, taking his hand back. ‘ _Yeah,’_ he signed, looking away from them. _‘Just tired. I’m going to… I’m going to go for a walk.’_ He hefted himself to his feet, still shaking slightly.

Twilight, still white-faced and looking like he had also just had a panic attack looked as if he wanted to protest, but was shut down by a look from Twilight. “Don’t get lost, and get some sleep.”

_‘Okay. Thanks.’_

“No problem.”

The door slammed, and Legend sagged. “Well, that was badly handled.”

“He shouldn’t be out there! What if he gets hurt?” Twilight looked ready to run out and get him again.

“He’ll be safer out there than he is in here.” The _with you_ at the end of the sentence went unsaid, but they all felt it. Twilight took in a shuddering breath. “I’ll take first watch.” He stalked out the door.

Legend sighed. “Wind, go with him?”

“But-“

“Just to make sure he doesn’t run off looking for Wild. And you should probably apologise to him. As for the rest of us, there’s no point in standing around looking sad. We should get to bed.”

Warriors gaped a Legend. “Since when did _you_ have enough emotional intelligence to be able to do that?”

“Since _you_ all apparently think the best thing to do is sit around and watch him have a panic attack. Besides… I have a friend. His world has more shitty adults in it than I’ve ever seen. I just did what I always do with him.” Legend smiled sadly, eyes worlds away for a second, then clapped. “Right. Off to bed, we’ll need to have had a good sleep to deal with _this_ in the morning.

Hyrule looked around. Four, Warriors and Sky were sat close together, whispering. Legend looked troubled. Time seemed as if he wasn’t even really there, and he was rereading the stupid piece of paper again.

When the morning came, there was silence. Wild still wasn’t back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to congratulate The_Lost_Hero_Of_Time specifically for literally figuring out the entire plot of this fic, because damn, are you sure you don't have mind-reading abilities? Comments and kudos appreciated!
> 
> Also I've changed my tumblr! I'm now https://www.tumblr.com/blog/friendlyneighborhoodbokoblin which doubles as an incorrect quotes blog. Come yell at me there!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild panics, Twilight worries, and Mipha decides to murder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another big one! TWs for this chapter:  
> Graphic depictions of panic attacks  
> Child abuse  
> tiny tiny tiny mention of kind of unintentional self-harm (No gore and it's not described graphically, but it's still there)
> 
> Please, please, if you think you might get triggered by any of these, just check the notes at the bottom. I'll have a lil synopsis there for y'all

Step. Parry. Step, step, deflect, fade, guard. His opponent favoured his right side, fought with brute force. He was tall, and he had just warmed up a few minutes before.

He was Link’s twelfth opponent.

“You’re drooping. Get on the offensive.” The Captain barked. He stalked somewhere behind him, and Link’s back spasmed straight. “You won’t defeat the Calamity if you never attack.”

Link’s breath hitched. His opponent, one of the higher-ranking knights of the castle, struck out, and Link only just missed being struck by the practice sword. They were using Link’s special practice swords, the ones that were only just blunted enough to avoid being cut up into pieces. The Captain told him he should be happy to have them, but they gave him cuts and bruises. The Captain told him he should be happy to have lots of things that gave him cuts and bruises, actually.

He stumbled as the Captain shoved him forward. “Offensive, boy! I didn’t raise you to be a failure! Do you want to see Hyrule in flames?”

The knight was looking at the Captain. Link took his chance. He jumped forward, charging at the knight, eyes blurred with sweat and pain. He slashed, and finally managed to get his sword in the right position. One flick of his wrist would disarm his opponent.

He was pushed again. His sword shifted, skittered out of his hand. The Captain hit him hard across the head. “That was _dreadful_. Control yourself, or you’re no son of mine.”

A sick feeling welled up in Link’s stomach. He needed to be stronger. He couldn’t afford to be weak.

“Start again. Try not to _fail_ this time.”

Link readied his blade. He felt like he was being crushed from the inside. The knight shifted in front of his eyes. It turned into a Bokoblin, and Link realised with a jolt that he no longer had a sword. The stick he had picked up felt unbalanced in his hand, like it was going to break any minute, and the cliff he was on seemed to writhe under his feet. Behind him, the Captain had been joined by the Old Man—The King—and Link felt their eyes trained on his back like scars. Their footsteps echoed boomingly around him, circling him like he was prey. “Save my daughter, Link. She’s dying, and it’s your fault. Save her, _Hero_ , it’s your fault, _save her_!”

Link’s legs wouldn’t move. His shoulders ached, and black spots danced in front of him. He couldn’t breathe. The Bokoblin hissed and ran at him, coming closer and closer until it wasn’t a Bokoblin anymore, it was a guardian, and it had its eye trained on him and there were hundreds of them, crowding around him and readying their shots and looking at him _why was everyone looking at him?_ And the King and the Captain were leering at him, why had he failed? They trusted him, trained him, told him what to do. They ordered him and forced him to follow his destiny _he didn’t want destiny!_ The guardians were surrounding him, the eyes were following him, always looking for him, always ready to attack, and Zelda was standing with the King and the Captain and she was screaming. “Save me, Link! Why did you fail? I’m going to die, help me! It’s your fault!” The eyes of the guardians branded into him and his scars burned and he ripped at them with his nails, and the hundreds _thousands_ of eyes were people and they were yelling, and he couldn’t hear anything past the roaring in his ears, and they were all dead and gone because he had failed them, he hadn’t been strong enough, he was _weak_ , and Twilight stood with the Captain.

“How was it supposed to make me react well? I’m related to a _failure_ , couldn’t even protect _himself_ , let alone the _whole country_ , you _failed_ , Cub. That wasn’t the soldiers you were supposed to be protecting, that wasn’t the royal family, stop trying to find someone else to blame. You _killed_ them, Cub. You killed Hyrule, and you killed the Champions, and you killed _me_.” Twilight smiled, dark and dangerous, and his teeth were sharp like a wolf’s. “Stars burn so better stars can be born in their place. You should’ve burnt years ago.”

The beeps of the guardians were getting louder. The eyes were multiplying, and everyone was looking at him and everyone was yelling and it was _loud_ and he couldn’t move, couldn’t move and he was back in the shrine and people were _screaming_ at him and he couldn’t breathe again, there was liquid in his throat. He didn’t want to go back, he didn’t want to forget, he _couldn’t_ forget _couldn’t see couldn’t hear couldn’t remember please remember I don’t want to go back please don’t make me go back_ -

“Linky, sweetheart, I need you to breathe for me.”

He was in Purah’s lab. It was quiet, save for someone sobbing. _Oh. That’s me_.

The tension in his brain snapped to silence. He sagged into Purah, who was standing on a chair to reach his face. He let out a shuttering breath.

“That’s right. You’re okay.”

His brain was muffled. Empty. He closed his eyes, calling out to the other champions.

“We’re right here, Link.”

Four ghostly figures surrounded Wild and Purah, casting them in a teal glow. Urbosa smiled at him, although her face was pinched with worry. “We lost you for a minute there. You shut us out as soon as you got back to your house, our only option was to become corporeal. By that point you were running through the woods, we almost had to drag you here.”

Wild sucked in a breath. _They had to waste their energy becoming corporeal just to stop you from going crazy. Some hero you are_.

Revali squawked indignantly. “We can still hear you, Link. Don’t patronize us, it’s easy becoming corporeal. Or it is for me, at least. It was hardly a waste.”

“I hate to say it, but Revali’s right,” Daruk said, crossing his arms. “We did it because we wanted to, not because we had to.”

Wild looked down. _‘I still feel guilty,’_ he signed, though he assumed the others could barely read it with how much he was shaking. _‘I should be able to handle that by myself.’_

Purah looked at him blankly. “Linky, you were having a waking nightmare. It’s not something you can deal with on your own. It’s not your fault.”

_‘It is though! People keep telling me it’s not my fault, but it is! None of this would have happened if I was better!’_

Purah raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Wild stopped. What did he mean? Calamity Ganon was his fault, obviously-

“No it wasn’t. If anything, it was our faults.” Mipha interrupted his train of thought. “We all did all we could, and we still all fell to the Blights. The only way you could have succeeded then was if you managed to be in five places at once.”

Wild mulled that over. ‘ _I could’ve done more.’_

“You could have done more than me- I mean, four of the best warriors of all Hyrule? Not likely. You aren’t a god, Link.” Revali scoffed, then, with a sharp elbow to the side from Urbosa, he added “But that’s okay. You’re allowed to be a person.”

He rubbed his face. _‘I’m supposed to be. Hylia chose me to save Hyrule, and I didn’t.’_

Mipha walked closer to him, and put a delicate, cold hand to the unscarred side of his face, _wow,_ Wild was touch-starved. She looked him in the eyes. “My love, Hylia’s a bitch.”

Purah snorted. “Ain’t that right.”

“you did nothing wrong. You cannot blame yourself for the mistakes of thousands, or you become those mistakes. You are not a toy for Hylia to play with. You were the smart, strong, selfless man I fell in love with 100 years ago, and you continue to be that man. No matter how much you think you’ve changed.”

Wild drew in a breath. _‘But what about Twilight? You didn’t see him, none of you did. As soon as he found out, he-‘_

“Wait, Twilight? As in the hero of Twilight?” Purah interrupted him.

He nodded. _‘apparently. I don’t understand it.’_ Wild frowned. His head was clearer than when he found out, but with this clarity came more questions. _‘The last hero before me was ten thousand years ago, right?’_

Purah sighed, flopping down on her chair. Wild sat next to her. “It is not… It is not my place to say. It is a secret to everybody, except for the royal family.”

Wild stiffened. _‘Is Zelda here?’_

Purah shook her head. “Not right now, but I can bring her here,” She took out a small device. “This is something I’ve been working on for a while. We figured out it works for about the length of Hateno, so let’s just hope it goes long-distance too.” Purah fiddled with it. It suddenly beeped, loud and shrill.

“Zeldy?”

The device crackled slightly. “Purah? What’s wrong?” Zelda’s voice rang out.

_“help me! It’s your fault!”_

Revali put a wing on Wild’s shoulder, and he tried to relax.

“Hi Zeldy, how is your research going?”

“Oh, wonderful! I’ve managed to find hundreds of new species with your upgrades. Did you know that there’s a new subspecies of amouranth growing? I’m just trying to figure out its properties-“

“Zelda. Link’s here.”

There was on the other end of the device. Then, “…Is he alright?”

“Yes, but he has questions. About a certain Hero of Twilight?”

“I’m on my way.” The audio abruptly cut out. Wild looked at Purah. _‘How long until she gets here?’_

Purah glanced at the door. “Any second no-“

She was cut short by the door slamming open. Zelda came rushing in, immediately pulling Wild into a bone-crushing hug. “Link! I haven’t seen you in weeks! How is your adventure going? Have you seen the Hyrules of other worlds? You _must_ tell me about them! How much is the biology different from this world’s? Are the climates different? The terrain? I found a hatch in the castle leading to the catacombs, I’m hoping to see what’s down there soon-“

Wild patted Zelda’s back, his arms at odd angles behind her. _‘Zel. Can’t breathe.’_ he tried to sign, but she wouldn’t have paid attention to his hands even if she could see them. Purah and the other champions were watching amusedly. _‘Guys!’_

Mipha, goddess bless her soul, was the one to speak up. “Princess, I think you might be crushing him.”

Zelda stopped her ramblings, then quickly disentangled herself from Wild. “Oh. Sorry, Link. And hello Purah, and champions.”

The champions smiled at her, and they all ignored Revali’s scoff of _“’not her friend’ my talons.”_

“It’s wonderful seeing you again, little vai,” Urbosa said warmly. “But there is trouble afoot. What do you know of the Hero of Twilight?”

Zelda’s smile faded. She glanced at Wild. “Only what my father told me. He was from a line of heroes known as the Lineage of Time, descended from one of the Heroes of Old. The first hero of the Lineage, the one who gave it its’ name, was cursed with a desire to be remembered, to pass down his skills. It is said that the Hero of Twilight was trained personally by that hero, and that that hero cursed his descendants to live until their purposes were fulfilled.”

“The Hero of Twilight never found his purpose, to my knowledge. He was older than my father, and his father before him, when you were born.” Zelda turned to Wild. “Over ten thousand years had passed, and yet the Hero of Twilight lived on.”

“That’s really sad.” Daruk said.

“Until-“ Zelda said.

“Oh?”

“Until, Link, you were born. My father says that the day you were born, and the day your mother died, was the last day anyone ever saw the Hero of Twilight. He disappeared, and my father, knowing that you were one day going to become the new Hero, put his most trusted knight to the task of raising you.”

Wild scoffed bitterly. _‘Bad idea.’_

Zelda’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry, Link. I wish I could go back in time and tell my father what kind of person the Captain was. I wish I could stop you from having to feel all that pain. I knew what was going on, I just didn’t know what to do about it.”

“ _Goddess_ , you two make a pair, don’t you? Always looking back at what ‘should’ve, would’ve, could’ve’. Stop focussing on what you _didn’t_ do, and start focussing on what you _can_.” Revali snarked.

Wild sucked in a breath. _But what do I do now? He hates me, hates the fact that I’m related to him. He made that clear.’_

“Wait, you’re _travelling_ with him?”

_‘Yes?’_

“And he _said_ that to you?”

_‘Yeah.’_

Mipha looked like she was going to explode. “Today, I’m going to kill a man.”

_‘Wait, what?’_

“I’ll join you.” Zelda stood, lips set in a thin line. “He has a _lot_ of explaining to do.”

“Me too. Only I get to make Link feel like shit.”

_‘Revali!’_

“Daruk and I will come too. I want to watch him squirm.”

Wild felt his breath catch in his throat. _‘Guys, please.’_ He signed, stamping down the panic rising in him. _‘I don’t want this right now. I’m tired, I’ve just been told the guy who I look up to is my father and also hates me, then I had like, three panic attacks. Please don’t do this._ ’

Six pairs of eyes turned to look at him. He shifted.

Purah broke the silence with a sigh. “Okay Linky, we’ll wait until later to do something. You can stay here for the night, there’s an extra bed made out the back.”

Wild let out a breath, already feeling the siren song of a soft bed calling to him. _‘Thank you.’_ It had been a long day, and he wanted nothing more than to go to bed and pretend it was a dream. To pretend his relationship with Twilight (and, by extension, Time, and the rest of his companions) was just a weird nightmare.

Little did he know, that as soon as the five others heard him get into bed, they huddled close together.

“Alright guys,” Purah whispered. “Get everyone together. Anyone you can find that would willingly punch someone who hurt Link. We’re performing a hate crime tonight.”

* * *

Wild’s house was holding its’ breath.

Legend was decidedly refusing to look at Twilight. Twilight guessed he couldn’t complain, because he was refusing to look at Time. Wind had apologised, said he didn’t mean for the secret to come out like that, but Twilight still felt white-hot anger sear through him whenever he looked at his mentor.

He had _lied_. He had kept the letter that held Twilight’s future, his whole _life_ , because he was scared. Twilight thumbed the edge of the paper. ‘ _For my son’,_ it read.

_‘I can feel myself weakening. Ten thousand years I’ve waited, wishing for an end to my life, which has gone on far too long, and now I know my purpose._

_You._

_I wish it wasn’t like this. When your mother told me she was pregnant, I knew her fate was sealed. You are to become the new Hero, and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you have to do this, that it is your destiny to fight until you can’t fight any longer. If I could do anything to stop your fate, I would._

_But that’s not how it works. My mentor, the Hero’s Shade, must have felt the same when he was training me. I wish I could take this destiny from you, protect you from what is coming, but even as I write my spirit writhes to be freed. I can do no more for you in person._

_I don’t know what will happen to you when I’m gone. No matter what happens, however, you will find the master sword. You will trust it, and you will follow it, and you won’t realise its curse until you have a child of your own and realise that they will have to go through the same thing you did._

_I feel that I will see you again. Perhaps I, like the Hero’s Shade, will aid you on your adventure. Perhaps I will help you. All I wish, Link, is to see you well._

_I will protect you._

Twilight felt a bitter laugh well up in his throat. Obviously, Wild didn’t particularly want to be related to him. _Obviously_ , he hadn’t succeeded in protecting him. Wild would often talk about his failures, but it had been Twilight who had failed to protect him, or even give him a goddess-damned hand in his adventure. Twilight was the reason Wild, practically a _child_ , had been killed before his time, had been forced into a world he didn’t know and told to save a world he didn’t remember, had-

“Uh, Twi?”

Twilight jumped at the sound of Four’s voice. He seemed apprehensive, as if waiting for Twilight to blow up. Twilight sighed. _Their family was falling apart_. “What is it?”

“There’s someone- some people at the door. Asking for you.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. Why would people be asking for him, of all people, in _Wild’s_ Hyrule? “I’ll go check it out.”

He got up, startling the seven other heroes, who had been sitting in tense silence, and opened the door.

A horde of people had gathered in front of the house. Hylians, Zora, Rito, and Gorons alike were amassed, shouting and pumping their fists. At the very front was an incredibly odd group; one of each tribe, all encased in an ethereal glow, a child, and who Twilight assumed was princess Zelda herself.

Zelda stepped forward. “Hello, are you the Hero of Twilight?”

“Uh, yes?”

And he was promptly punched in the face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! All of y'all guessed the plot twist! Damn. Also, the title for this chapter in my head was "Wild has like 4 panic attacks and Mipha commits a hate crime"
> 
> For people who skipped this chap:  
> Twilight is Wild's dad because of a weird curse I made up that says that because Time couldn't die peacefully until he trained Twilight, neither could Twi, so he lived 10 000 years. Both Wild and Twilight think the other doesn't want to be related to him because my boys are insecure idiots, and Mipha, Revali, Urbosa, Daruk, Purah and Zelda decide to amass the Wild Protection Squad.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda understands, the Wild Protection Squad is formed, and Twilight makes his choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh,,,,,,,,, it's been a while.
> 
> I have nothing to say for myself. Ya bastard got caught up with school, and homework, and accidentally beating botw (long story). Also Twilight Princess.

There were a good number of rules and procedures that, in order for her to have a successful reign, Zelda had been taught to follow since she was old enough to understand. _Thou Shalt Not Murder. Thou Shalt Not Leave the Castle Without A Guard. Thou Shalt Not Speaketh Out of Line. Thou Shalt Not, Under Any Circumstances, Bring Dishonour To Our Family’s Valorous Name._ Well, she had followed every one of those rules to the letter, and still ended up spending one hundred years alone in a castle with the physical embodiment of evil, so she couldn’t care less what rules and procedures she was obligated to follow. Link, _her_ Link, had been hurt, and that simply _wouldn’t_ do.

“Zeldy?” Purah said. “You know anyone?”

Zelda’s attention snapped back to the others. They waited, expectant. “What? Oh, I don’t know. Link doesn’t like talking about his journey, and you know him. He was barely able to talk to _me_ , even when he was my appointed Knight,” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I wish I could say more, but trying to get information from him is like talking to a stone wall.”

She hated how little she knew. When Link had come to the castle and destroyed the Calamity once and for all, she expected there to be music, or fireworks, or even simply the feeling that shooting stars were falling all around them. It was always the way it was told in the stories; the Princess was saved by the Hero, and it was a glorious day full of happiness and laughter. She had waited for one hundred years, the weight of all evil on her shoulders, and the thought of a fairy-tale ending was the only thing keeping her strong.

It wasn’t like that. When Link dealt the killing blow, the Calamity didn’t explode into a cascade of sparks, it slithered through cracks in the ground like the sludge of a squashed insect. There was no music, there were no fireworks. There was silence. For a devastating moment, Link had looked at her blankly, as if he had no idea who she was, and as Zelda looked at him, covered in blood and bruises and more scars than she could count, she realised that she didn’t know the person standing in front of her. Not really. And even now, when she and Link were on friendly terms, she still didn’t know him. Not fully.

_Will I ever really know him again?_

Mipha hummed. “Actually, he made quite a good impression on my people, if I remember correctly. Especially my brother. He’d probably help us.”

“The Rito found him acceptable too, I believe. I’m sure Teba would be a good addition to our little posse, even if he is just a less powerful knockoff of me.”

“My descendant, Yunobo, likes him as well. The kid’s a bit of a scaredy-cat when you first meet him, but he’s strong. He would help.”

“And I’m sure little Riju would be able to mass together a group of good Gerudo warriors. Despite the odds—and the way he gained entry to Gerudo town—my people respect him. That can’t be said for many Voe nowadays.”

“That settles it!” Purah clapped her hands together excitedly. “First mission: assemble the Link Protection Squad is a go. Everyone, roll out.”

“Purah, what does that even _mean_?”

* * *

By the time the Champions had come back, Purah had almost built herself up into an angry frenzy and had to be shushed by Symin, lest she wake the restlessly sleeping Link in the other room (Zelda was initially confused at this, as she knew for a fact that all of the bedrooms of the lab were soundproofed, but had later realised that she visibly flinched every time Purah shouted), and Zelda had pulled apart and put back together no less than three of Purah’s older gadgets. Despite her fidgeting, the only thing Zelda could feel was anger. How dare some ratty old Hero hurt Link so remorselessly? How dare he come into _her_ kingdom and upset _her_ Knight? And after all he’d done, all he’d been through? Zelda didn’t care how important this Hero was, she didn’t give a _damn_ how many years he’d been cursed or how many battles he’d fought or what his motives were. All she knew was that her best friend had come to Purah, half-delirious and sobbing, and Zelda hadn’t been there to help him.

Not this time.

Zelda had lived for one hundred years wishing that she could help Link in any way she could, and she wasn’t going to let some _Hero_ stop her from finally achieving that.

Almost as soon as that thought entered her head, she began to hear the voices of what could only be described as a horde. She glanced at Purah. “Exactly how many people did Link befriend?”

Purah had paled. “Um, I think, maybe, a few? I’ll, uh… I’ll go see.” She slipped off the chair Symin had deposited her in a few minutes earlier, and ran to the door. Zelda followed her.

Objectively, Zelda knew her memories had, in comparison to Link’s, come out in better shape after the defeat of the Calamity. Even so, one hundred years is a long time, and it is much longer when one is awake throughout all of it, so it wasn’t unusual that certain things slipped her mind. However, she knew for a fact that she had never once in her life seen a crowd as diverse and angry as the one ascending the hill to the lab. Gorons, Rito, Zora, Gerudo and Hylians alike were standing side-by-side, torches and eyes ablaze. Hylian villagers rode atop the shoulders of Zora guards, armed with pitchforks and rusty swords. Gerudo warriors walked amongst the crowd, handing out weapons to men and women alike. Rito and Gorons chatted and pumped their fists. It seemed as if all corners of Hyrule had decided to put aside their differences, just to help Zelda and Purah defend Link, and Zelda couldn’t be happier.

Once the mob had ascended the hill, Purah clapped her hands once, and they all fell silent. She looked at Zelda.

Zelda took a breath, and steeled herself. “Hello everyone,” She began. “I believe we’re all here for the same reason, yes?”

At the crowd’s roar of agreement, Zelda let herself relax slightly. “It has come to my attention that someone has decided that they are too good for the Hero who saved Hyrule.”

Another shout, this time angry.

“This, as you all know, will not do. Link has given his life to protecting this land, and anyone who says otherwise must have not seen what he had to go through to protect us. We’re here today, to protect someone who has spent his life dedicated to protecting us, and not asked for any recompense even _once_.” Zelda paced in front of the crowd, all semblance of nervousness long gone as a now-familiar anger bubbled up in her stomach. _How dare he._ “And for what? This person is a Hero himself, but that doesn’t grant him the privilege to snub our saviour like a broken blade. It is now our turn to protect he who has put himself in danger time and time again to save us.”

Zelda thrust her fist into the air. “The repute of our Hero has been dashed, and we will fight to restore it!”

The cheers from the crowd head amplified to such a level that Zelda was sure all of Hyrule, if not Hylia herself in the heavens, could hear it. with a yell, she ran down the hill, the sounds of hundreds of feet and shouts following her like a wave. Hero of the legends or not, this man—the Hero of Twilight—would soon see the repercussions of hurting her Knight, and he would see the wrath of all of Hyrule and her Queen.

* * *

“Wh- _fucking ow!_ ” Twilight grabbed his nose as he stumbled backwards. He glared at who he presumed was this world’s Zelda (judging only from the fact that all of the Zeldas they had met had shared similar traits to their respective Links, and this woman seemed almost too Wild for words), and she glared back harder, fire in her eyes.

“What the _fuck_ was that for?”

An odd-looking man—he seemed to be half man, half bird, and was glowing with blue light—spoke up from behind Zelda. “Because only _I_ get to bother Link, asshole!”

“I-what?”

“You heard what he said.” A deep voice rang out from further back, and another bird-man stepped forward, pearl-white feathers gleaming proudly. “I don’t know who you think you are, but Revali here has filled me in on _everything_ you said to Link, and let me tell you,” he walked through the glowing man—Revali—and crouched down low, towards Twilight’s face. “If you _ever_ think you can talk about the Hero who saved Hyrule from one hundred years of pain and suffering, I _swear_ I’ll end you. You might have saved your world, but you’re useless in this one. We owe you nothing. Link _certainly_ owes you nothing, and to us? _You’re_ nothing.“ Faster than Twilight could see, the man had grabbed the front of his shirt. “We don’t respond well to outsiders here. Especially not outsiders who think they can hurt _our_ Hero, you plucked little-“

“What’s going on here?”

Twilight’s breath was caught between a hitch and a sigh of relief. He and Time weren’t on good terms—something dark and unforgiving clenched in Twilight’s stomach as he remembered the look on Time’s face, as if it was painful for _him_ , and Twilight thought he might not ever be on good terms with his former mentor—but having him push him away from the huge man made him swallow a sigh of relief.

Time’s face was stony, as it had been since Wild left. Closed off. He stepped up to the man, and Twilight realised with a start that Time’s lack of an eye made no difference to his ability to stare down an angry adult. “I’m sorry, but I don’t tolerate that kind of language to my family. Please kindly get the _fuck_ out of here.”

The man’s eyes narrowed, and Zelda, who had been watching the exchange with a vaguely irritated expression, scoffed. “ _Family_? Oh, I’m sorry, is _my_ Link not part of your family too? Or did you just decide to throw him away like garbage after what you did?” She pointed an accusatory finger at Twilight, who had a sinking feeling in his stomach to what she was getting at.

Had Wild really felt that destroyed? He had seemed panicked, as if he was going to be attacked, then he had acted as if he _hated_ Twilight.

He had flinched away from his touch, as if he were expecting a hit.

Had _he_ done that?

The thought made ice run up his arms and around his neck. He had always thought he’d be a good father; the children at Ordon village liked him well enough. But he wasn’t, was he? People don’t flinch like _that_ for no reason. _Goddess_ , it must have been awful for Wild to find out. Wild had trusted him, he was one of the only people Wild would let his walls down around. But in reality, Twilight was the reason he had walls.

Zelda was red, he noticed blearily. The fire in her eyes now seemed to engulf her whole face, decorating her face in anger. “ _You_ have nothing to say for yourself. Link is the most courageous person I’ve ever met, and he talks about _you_ like you hung the Goddess-damned stars! You have no _right_ to say the things you did. You don’t deserve him!”

Zelda’s voice sounded tinny in Twilight’s ears. He knew he could hear her, but it felt like she was speaking a different language. All he could feel was the ice around his neck, and how it shifted and spread slimily across his back, before creating a lump deep in his stomach. How could he do that to a person? A child? His mind flickered back to his first night as the wolf, the first time anyone ever _really_ saw who he was.

_Monster._

_Demon._

It was fitting, really, that he was a wolf. He was vicious, unforgiving and cold. He was a monster, really, because what Hero would hurt a child? How could he look Wild in the eyes, knowing he had caused so much pain? The letter didn’t make sense. It seemed caring, and sad, and guilty and regretful and everything he felt every time he remembered how Wild had thrown himself away from Twilight’s hand as if waiting for scorn. But Wild’s nightmares—they all had nightmares, some of them even more frequently than Wild, but Wild’s always sent him into a spiral of silence that would last for hours, if not days—told Twilight of a childhood that wasn’t caring. And that was Twilight’s fault.

“For the Goddess’ sake, are you even _listening_ to me?”

“I’m sorry.”

All of the movement in front of the house came to a grinding halt. Twilight’s voice was hoarse, dancing the line between sound and breath, and he barely felt it over the chill in his lungs and in his throat and all through his stomach.

He didn’t even know who he was apologising to. Wild? Time? Zelda? Or maybe the whole crowd that had come together from all around this world to protect Wild from Twilight. To protect Wild from his _father_ , and wasn’t that depressing? The thought had a cold, hysterical laugh bubbling up from the ice in his stomach, but something in his brain must have been screwed up because all that came out were freezing tears and more shattered apologies.

“I’m sorry. I- _fuck_. Fuck, I’m so sorry.” One little, shrivelled part of his brain knew he was sobbing, knew there were people watching him, but it was blocked by a tidal wave of the image of Wild shrinking away from him like he was a _monster_ , and the wave grew and grew until it was enveloping him from the inside out and _it’s so cold, why is it so cold?_

“Pup, you need to breathe.”

Time was looking at Twilight worriedly. Hylia, even Zelda looked worriedly at him, the fire on her face masked by confusion. He closed his eyes against the stares, but the icy tears kept coming, and he hadn’t cried this much since _her_.

Just more people he wasn’t good enough for.

A hand fell on his shoulder. “Deep breaths, Twilight. You’re alright.” Twilight’s vision swam, and he realised with a start that he had opened his eyes, or maybe he had never closed them, and Time was looking into his eyes and he was talking but all Twilight could hear was ringing. He took a deep breath, and then another, and the roaring in his ears died down.

There was silence. The mob who had followed Zelda and the glowing people were watching, some curious and others nervous, shuffling their feet. Zelda was frowning. “For someone who hates Link simply for existing, you seem very… unstable.”

“What?” Twilight turned to her. _Does Wild think I hate him?_ “I don’t hate him. Why would I hate him?”

Another glowing spirit—a tall Gerudo woman—sighed. “I don’t know why you would, but he certainly thinks you do.”

“I thought he hated me!”

“Have you ever even _met_ him?” The white-feathered man scoffed. “As if Link could hate anyone.”

Twilight looked to his feet. "I would hate me," he whispered. "If I had done what I did."

Something in Zelda’s face changed, as if she had just figured out a difficult puzzle. “You think you’re who… no. Listen, I don’t know what you said to Link to make him act the way he did just now. That, you need to work out with him. But I know what you’re blaming yourself for, and let me make myself very clear: you didn’t do that to him.” She sighed, and looked at the horde. “Okay everyone, there’s been a change of plans. We’re not killing anyone today.”

Several groans rang throughout the valley. A few people threw their weapons down in anger, and the crowd slowly dissipated, save for the small group at the front. Zelda looked at Twilight. “May we come in?”

Blankly, Twilight moved out of the doorway. Wild’s house was cramped, with the newcomers as well as the other heroes (who had been watching the whole affair with bewildered concern), but Zelda brushed past and sat down heavily at the table. She looked at Twilight. “So, you know? About Link’s childhood before… well, before everything?”

“I mean, I know _enough_. He looked like he thought I was going to hurt him. _Goddess_ , he looked like I was going to _kill_ him. It’s not difficult to put two and two together. It’s my fault he’s like that.” Twilight’s breath hitched. “I’m no Hero. Heroes don’t do _that_ , not to children.”

The glowing Zora woman (she seemed familiar, and Twilight realised with a jolt that she was the woman he had seen a wisp of after Wild had died) put a hand on his back, and though he couldn’t physically feel it, warmth spread outwards from the spot, thawing the cold. “I feel your pain, though I don’t understand it,” she said. “You are his father, yes, but you did not raise him. Zelda tells us that you were in his life for as long as you were able, but your time had come just after he was born.” She took her hand away from him, but the warmth stayed. “You surely remember this, don’t you?”

“You haven’t done it yet,” A large Goron spirit said. “I know old Hylians when I see ‘em, and unless there’s some weird gene in the Lineage of Time that stops you from aging, you’re definitely not over ten thousand years old.”

“The Lineage of _what_?” Time said, looking up sharply. Warriors snorted. “Guess you get busy, old man.”

Zelda looked Twilight in the eyes. “I don’t pretend to know who you are, past the Hero of Twilight, or what you’re like. But I do know that Link, _my_ Link, has good taste in people, and if he finds he doesn't trust someone, he doesn’t waste his time on them. If he’s spent this long with you, and he talks about you the way he does, then I’m going to trust his judgement. Link is strong, and brave, and intelligent, but he’s also fragile, and insecure, and he thinks you think the worst of him. He doesn’t for help a lot, it’s part of his nature, but if you’re really his father, then you need to help him.” Her gaze was unwavering, hard, and her eyes showed an age and maturity her face didn’t. In that moment, in Wild’s silent home with the Heroes and the spirits (and the child, which was watching Zelda proudly), Twilight suddenly understood why exactly this Zelda was the Queen of the Wild.

And in that moment, Twilight made his choice.

“Where is he?” He said, breaking the silence with a voice, soft as a breath. “Where’s my son?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't say I absolutely love how this turned out, especially seeing as I had almost a month to work on it. But eh. Anyway, y'all should watch Hamilton on Disney+, cause I did and now I'm crying c]:')
> 
> Comments and kudos appreciated! Final few (maybe final overall idk where this fic is going) chapters coming soon! and this time I swear I won't take a month to do it lmao


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter last chapter last chapter last chapter last chapter last chapter last chapter la-

_Heresy._ Wild thought. _Isn’t it funny?_

It wasn’t. Not really. Heretic kingdoms fell to ruin, and he knew that well, and maybe it was the reason his kingdom fell. Who even worshipped Hylia anyway?

That was a dangerous thought. Wild had been having a lot of those.

No one in his Hyrule really cared about the Goddess. They hadn’t cared, from what he had seen, since Hylia left them for dead, left them to face the Calamity alone. They hadn’t cared since their Princess was taken from them and their Knight failed. Heretic kingdoms reject religion for a reason.

He lay in a small cot high in the lab. It was warm, and he had managed to block everything out for a few hours in the warmth. While Wild was sleeping, or perhaps trying to wake up from his life, he had another memory. It was a quiet, and he was young.

He was in a classroom. It was small, musty, and the air tasted like summer afternoons and oak. A bookcase spanned one wall, books crammed in messy, but well cared for. Parchment was pinned on any reachable surface; ink-sketched diagrams and annotations stuck up and in between scraps of poetry about life and dreams and the stars, and Wild wondered if he would ever remember what the poems had meant to him. Light from a nearby window, open, made dust motes glow and dance in a gentle breeze, and the room glimmered, painted with gold. He was sitting at a desk, and he was alone. The door banged, and Wild felt himself flinch out of instinct (loud noises had always reminded him of unkind hands). When he turned, he was met with a stern face and kind eyes.

Impa took a step towards him, then hesitated. Link had never seen Impa hesitate. He wanted to ask what was wrong, wanted to ask what he’d done, but his voice wouldn’t work anymore. Impa must have noticed, because she sighed.

“I remember hearing you sing, boy. What happened?” At his silence, she shook her head. “I remember hearing you sing, and now you can’t even speak.”

She sounded bitter. Link looked down. “I’m sorry,” he said, and his voice was crackly with neglect. “I-I’ll try to do better.”

“You _can’t_.” He jumped at the sharpness of her words, watching her carefully for signs of aggression. She faltered, again, and Link resisted the urge to play with his fingers in nervousness ( _‘Real soldiers show no discomfort,’_ his father’s voice rang in his head like an echo of a cannon, _‘Real soldiers don’t crack their knuckles like common farmers.’_ ).

She took another step. “I didn’t mean it like that, I… you can’t do better ‘cause you’re already doing as best you can. I just- _goddess_ , I’m bad at this.” She sunk down to the floor of the classroom, closing her eyes. Carefully, he got out of his seat and sat on the floor next to her.

Impa rubbed her eyes tiredly. “My mother still had stuff she wanted to teach me, before she died.” She laughed bitterly. “She was so excited for me, ‘cause she thought I was gonna be the next one of our family to teach the Princess and her Knight. She hadn’t been able to, and neither had her mother or her grandmother, so when princess Zelda was born it was a really big thing for her, you know?”

Wild nodded. It had been just like that with his father. When he found out Wild had managed to pull the sword, he had immediately put him to training. He had been four.

Impa continued. “The Heroes of Old, they were always said to be these… beings of absolute light. Like, they came, defeated Ganon with the Princess, then they fell in love and had a wonderful life and that was the end of it. That’s what it’s always been like.”

“I’ve never heard the stories of the Heroes.”

“No?” Impa raised an eyebrow. “Not even for bedtime stories?”

“Papa says I’m too old for bedtime stories.”

“And how old are you?”

“Ten.”

“Oh.” She shifted. “Well, they’re not awful, I guess.”

“Can you tell me?” Link’s breath hitched, and he felt a tight ball knot into his stomach. “Actually, never mind, it’s okay, I-“

“No, it’s okay, I can tell you.” She smiled at him, sadly. “After all, I’m your teacher, and every good hero needs to know the stories of his predecessors.”

The memory faded out with Impa’s soft voice, telling him stories of Heroes like gods among men, and her words tasted like heresy on Wild’s tongue and in the back of his throat.

_Gods among men. Ha._ He used to think of them like gods. After everything that had happened, after the way Twilight looked at him (as if Wild had control over the situation, as if he had _chosen_ for it to happen the way it did, as if he wasn’t just as surprised and shocked and so, so scared), he didn’t know what to think.

There was a knock at the door. “Link?” Zelda’s face was calm, if a bit worried, but there was a protective fire in her eyes that seemed to shroud Wild in a blanket of comfortable warmth as she looked at him. He shifted on the bed he was borrowing. _He didn’t deserve her warmth._ “He’s here.”

Electricity shot up Wild’s spine. _No. He can’t be here. He can’t._ He hadn’t realised how hard he was clenching his fists until Zelda pulled his hands away from him. “You’re okay.” She sat down next to him. “It’s going to be fine. You trust me, right?”

Wild searched Zelda’s face. He didn’t know what the right answer was to that. “Um, yes?”

“Then trust me. Trust me when I say that you two need to sort things out. We went down there, fully expecting to have to hide the body of a Hero of Old-“

“Wait, you _went_ to them?”

“-but what we found, was someone who has made a lot of mistakes.” Zelda put a warm hand to Wild’s cheek. “It’s going to be hard, but you need to talk to him. Otherwise this whole situation will just get worse.”

Wild scoffed. “Talking hasn’t ever exactly been my strong suit.”

“Who are you?”

“What?”

“I said,” Zelda stood up from the bed and pointed at Wild accusingly. “Who are you and what have you done with Link? You know, the Link who fought a lynel in a lightning storm just because I told him he wouldn’t be able to do it? Where did the Link that never lets what people think he can’t do stop him from doing what he wants anyway go?”

“This isn’t _like_ the lynel! This actually matters! _Goddess_ Zel, I’m so fucking scared. I’m just-I’m so _me_ , and they’re all so much _better_ , and I’m not enough, and I’ll never be enough, and he deserves so much _more_ than a fuckup like me, and-“

“Link!”

Wild stopped. Took a deep breath, willed back the tired tears in his eyes. “What if-“ his voice cracked, and he realised his throat had closed up around his words like thorns. He signed, pushing back the bitterness of his voice being taken away yet again. _‘What if he hates me? Goddess, what if he expects me to immediately accept_ him _? I can’t do that, Zelda. I can’t.’_

Zelda looked at him thoughtfully. After a moment, she said bluntly, “Do you love him?”

Wild blinked. Did he?

Was that even a question?

_‘Of course I do. I think he’s been a father to me since I met him. But… I don’t think I can do all that, not out loud, not after… not after the Captain.’_ He huffed, wishing, not for the first time that words came easily to him. _‘I’m scared I’m too fucked up to let him be my father.’_

Zelda sat back down. She took his hand, and her hand was warm. “That’s okay. One thing I’ve learnt from the Calamity, from everything that’s happened, is that love isn’t something you can turn into fact, or measure. There are different ways to love, and different people have different experience that all affect how they love. Your experience doesn’t make you unable to love in a different way. You might be scared, but if he’s really your father, he’ll accept your fear as well as everything else that makes you _you_. And if he doesn’t…” Zelda smiled ruefully. “Well, let’s just say royalty are good at hiding evidence. And bodies. Especially if said body was supposed to be dead, what, ten thousand years ago?”

And suddenly, Wild was laughing, and then Zelda was laughing, and neither of them really knew whether they were laughing or crying but they were doing it together, and that was all that mattered. _‘This… this whole fucking situation… when the fuck did our lives get this weird?’_

“I don’t know! The whole ‘staying-alive-for-100-years’ part probably didn’t help though!” Zelda said, wiping her eyes. She smiled reassuringly, and Wild felt the little ball of fear that had made its home in his stomach loosen the tiniest bit. “Let’s go sort this out, once and for all.”

* * *

Twilight was pacing, and it was making Time even more worried than he was already.

The truth was, he didn’t know what to do. He had begun to rely on Twilight whenever people in their little makeshift family fucked up with one another, but now Time had fucked up with Twilight, and Wild was paying the price. This wasn’t supposed to be his job! He dealt with the repercussions of world-ending cataclysms

He needed to fix this.

They had been waiting at the top of the hill—in front of the large building Zelda had simply called ‘The Lab’—for what seemed like years. It was better than waiting Wild’s house, in Time’s opinion. At least he didn’t have the

“Hey, Pup…” Twilight turned to him. _At least he doesn’t look like he wants to kill me anymore,_ Time thought. _He just looks sad._

“You wanna talk about it?”

“No. I mean, yeah, but- I mean-“ Twilight groaned, sinking onto the grass. “I don’t know! What if he hates me?”

Time sighed, and tried to make it sound less long-suffering than it actually was. “We’ve been over this, Pup. I don’t think Wild will ever be able to hate you.” It was true; Time knew there were people in the world who Wild hated, or who he deserved to hate (the image of Wild, curled over and shaking, came into his mind), but he also knew that Wild wasn’t easily angered. “It would take more than a misunderstanding for him to decide he hated you.”

“What if he already hated me?” Twilight’s eyes were frantic, searching. “What if he only tolerated me because of the quest? What if he-“

“Oh, for _Goddess’_ sake, Twi.” Surprisingly, it was Four’s voice who cut Twilight off. “If you really think that little of Wild, then maybe you _don’t_ deserve to be his father.”

Twilight made a punched out noise that was just stepping the line of being a particularly wolf-like whine, and Time looked at Four urgently. Four continued, completely indifferent. “Obviously I don’t mean that, but _seriously_? Come _on_. You’re catastrophising, and it’s getting boring. If both of you had actually talked to each other, instead of running off and assuming the worst, you would’ve both realised much sooner that you’re both already so father-son-like that it’s sickeningly sweet to watch, and neither of you would need to be such drama queens about it. Shit happens, it happens to all of us. So what? If _this_ is the thing that brings the great Hero of the Twilight, the man I saw jump off a cliff onto a hinox’s head just to prove a point, to his knees, then I’ll eat my shoe. So grow the fuck up, stop assuming he hates you ‘cause he had a panic attack, and _talk_ to him.”  
  


“My point exactly.” Time jumped at Zelda’s voice. Her face was stern, but there was a glimmer in her eye. She was leaning against the doorframe of the lab, Wild in tow, looking rather awkward. Zelda pushed him in front of her lightly, and he stumbled.

For a moment, there was silence on the hill. Then, two voices, in unison.

“I’m sorry I’m like this.”

Zelda snorted. Four groaned. Legend, from his spot away from them, sitting with the others, called out a “You’re both fuckin’ stupid!”

Twilight began, halting and nervous. “I never wanted to make you feel unwanted, I was just surprised is all-“

“ _You_ were surprised? I thought you hated me!”

“I thought _you_ hated _me_!”

“Why would I ever hate you? How could I?”

“I don’t know, but you looked at me like I was going to- Goddess, you looked at me like I was going to hit you, and I just thought- I don’t know what I thought, but it wasn’t good.”

“Hylia.” Wild sank to the ground, holding his head on his hands. “So you’re telling me that I had, like, four panic attacks over nothing?”

Time watched Twilight look at Wild sadly. “I’m so sorry—” Wild looked as if he wanted to interrupt, but Twilight held one hand up and kept talking. “Let me finish. I reacted badly. All this? It’s on me. Even though I was surprised, I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, especially given your… past.”

“You knew before? I mean, you knew about _him_?”

Twilight sighed, and Time realised with a start how old he looked. “I had my suspicions. You flinch whenever someone pats you on the back, Cub.” Wild looked down, guilty, and Twilight gently raised his head. “I should’ve talked to you before, but I didn’t. I was scared, and I stood there and I did nothing, and everything spiralled until I didn’t know what to do, and the only reason all this happened was because I was a coward.”

Wild took Twilight’s hand, resting under his chin. “I… I was scared too. I thought that maybe when you saw how- how fucked I was because of him, and figured out that I’d never really be able to really _act_ like your son, you’d hate me.” He laughed bitterly. “I guess having the person you thought was your dad completely screw you over in the head doesn’t bode well for other potential father figures.”

“Hey now, none of that. You’re not screwed up.” Twilight smiled softly, but Time saw a hard glint in his eyes that was usually kept hidden away until a particularly dangerous monster needed to be defeated. “I swear to _Hylia_ , if anyone ever tries to tell you you’re screwed up, I’ll end them.” He looked into Wild’s eyes. “You’re under no obligation to ‘act’ like my son. You don’t get given a family, you choose one. And…” His smile turned sad. “If you don’t feel comfortable with all this, we can completely ignore it. We can pretend we’re distant ancestors and nothing more.”

Wild cocked his head, and Time felt a tension in his shoulders that had been pressing on his ever since the Castle Town Ruins bleed away slightly. “I think you had always been my father, really.” He laughed lightly. “Reminds me of something someone said to me, a while ago. ‘your heart never forgets the feeling of family. Your brain might, but your heart always knows who you belong to.’”

Twilight and Wild—his Pup and his Cub—looked at Time. Both of them were smiling, and the hill with the lab suddenly felt a little bit warmer.

Suddenly, there was a tell-tale pull in Time’s stomach. Legend groaned. “ _That’s_ what Hylia wanted us to do? We spent this long in Wild’s Hyrule just so She could have Her sappy little family-moment?”

“Guess so.” Twilight stood, pulling Wild with him. He looked at Zelda. “Well, thank you for your hospitality, and for, you know, not killing me.”

Zelda smiled. “Don’t think you’re off scot-free, Hero. You do anything to hurt my Champion, and you’re dead.” She stared at Twilight just long enough for him to be uncomfortable, then grinned at Wild. “I’m proud of you, Link.” Wild simply smiled, moving closer to the group with Twilight in tow.

Time felt a prickling sensation over his back and down his arms. They didn’t have much longer. “Well, boys, I think that’s our cue.”

And, with a flash, they were gone, the distance between their hearts a little bit shorter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! Honestly, I'm proud of myself, this wasn't too bad for a first fic. I might make it into a lil series, who knows. See y'all next time!

**Author's Note:**

> yell at me on Tumblr: https://friendlyneighborhoodbokoblin.tumblr.com


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